Snapshots 1: Camping
by Azurevi
Summary: This is a sequel to What Binds Them, read that first because A  it is awesome and B  some of the events referenced here will not make sense. Everyone goes camping but the woods hold more than just trees; necromancy and werewolves and romance oh my!
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! Here is the first chapter of the first installment of the project I said I'd be working on. This story is written from Derek and Chloe's alternating POV's and I'd really love some feedback about that. What Binds Them was mostly from Chloe's perspective and An Anniversary to Remember is from Derek's perspective, this is the first story where I'm really alternating and I want to know what POV you guys like best. Because What Binds Them and The Reckoning were pretty similar this story is following the plot line that I laid out in my version; meaning that if you haven't read WBT alot of this will not make sense. Thank you for your ongoing support and to express my gratitude-and let's be honest, because Chloe and Derek are pretty much the most fun couple to write ever-here is a mostly fluffy story as a reward for your patience!

**WARNING: This is a sequel. If you have not read my other story, What Binds Them, this will not make sense! Also you should read it anyway because it is awesome.**

Camping

I had found my own personal ring of hell. A hell with elevator music clashing horribly with the newest pop song and a dozen other soundtracks; babies crying, girls giggling, boys peacocking and sniggering, hundreds of different footfalls in heels and boots and sneakers and flip-flops. Worse was the smell, perfume, seven different kinds of cheap greasy fast food, hormones and cleaning products.

"Stop fidgeting. You were the one who insisted on coming here." Chloe Saunders, necromancer to the nth power and the most beautiful, clever (insert positive adjective here) girl I knew glared up at me with her colorless gray eyes.

I'd mourned the loss of her blue eyes after our finale with the Edison Group—she'd pushed herself too far and when she was releasing a demi-demons ghost (don't ask) it had taken her eye color with it. As far as trade-offs went it wasn't that bad and I'd grown to love the new color of her eyes just as much as every one of her scars from our misadventures. They were marks that reminded me every time I looked at her of just how brave she was.

I tilted her face up and leaned down since I had over a foot of height on her and pressed my mouth to three faint parallel white marks that ran from her hairline to the edge of her eyebrow. She had been lucky that time and they skipped over her eye without doing any damage. She'd been even luckier that she only got scratched and not bitten as it had been a werewolf who attacked her, the same type of supernatural that I was.

"I was just thinking about what a good time I'm having." I said, forcing a smile.

She laughed and suddenly the mall didn't seem too bad. "You're a terrible liar."

I could argue that I could lie to anyone I wanted to but firstly I didn't see the point in conversation without purpose or truth and secondly no matter how tightly I closed down my expression and body language Chloe could read me like an open book.

"You know I could always get Simon to help." She gave me a coy look.

I refused to rise to the bait. "Uh huh."

"Do you think he'd like this one… or this one…" She pulled a black bathing suit off the rack with almost enough material to pass for an ace bandage and another red one held together with rings.

"Veto."

She sighed exasperatedly. We'd been swimsuit shopping for an hour and there had not been a single one that I would be okay with Chloe wearing in public.

"This one?" She gave me a sarcastic head-tilt as she pulled a floral print one-piece with an attached skirt.

"Better."

She kicked me in the shin and I winced. "My granma would even think this was too modest you territorial mangy-"

I kissed her. Nothing overtly sensual because it was getting harder and harder to keep the wolf in my blood in check whenever I kissed Chloe but it was enough to make her soften and lose the edge off her temper.

_Mine._ I thought, pulling away and looking down at her. She shivered as if she could read my mind—more likely my expression—and placed her slender hand on my chest.

"Yes." She murmured quietly. After a second she blinked and blushed. "O-okay. Focusing on task at hand."

The stutter was my personal meter of how flustered Chloe was. Since taking down the Edison Group and nearly dying and proving that she had just as much guts as brains she never stuttered unless we were alone. I wouldn't have it any other way, I'd always thought the stutter was pretty cute and I didn't share well.

"This one?" She pulled a plain blue two-piece with one of those tank top things.

There wasn't an excess of straps or sheer stuff or frills, it was the most modest thing we'd seen besides the grandmother suit. "… Fine."

"Really?" She smiled and it lit up her face. "Thank goodness, go find Simon and Tori and I'll check out."

I nodded, pulling out my cell phone, then remembering that Simon didn't have his due to stalkers and sighed, glancing at Chloe who had already moved to the summer dresses. She looked back at me and smiled reassuringly, shooing me out with a wave.

Even with my nose it took a good a good fifteen minutes to track Simon. Naturally he was hiding in the art supply shop, drooling over a ridiculously overpriced colored pencil set. I still felt the slight twinge of guilt about waiting so long to tell him that I cared about Chloe. That was what had hurt him the most, not only had he actually liked Chloe—not like the other ninety percent of the girls he pursued—but the first girl that I had gotten attached to I hadn't told him. It didn't make a difference that mates didn't have anything to do with teenage hormones, to him I had held back about something big. He had no idea how big though and I had no intention of telling him for awhile.

"Hey." I said.

He jumped and glared. "I'm getting you a bell. There's a pet shop down towards Macy's that has Rottweiler size collars."

"Sorry." I shrugged, I'd been spooking him since grade school and he'd been threatening to get me a bell for just as long. "Chloe found a bathing suit."

Simon shot me a wink. "Let me guess, overalls?"

I shook my head. "Tank… thing…"

Simon rolled his eyes. "I'm surprised that you didn't make her get one of those granny suits with the skirt."

I winced. Simon knew me too well.

"Tori's going to meet us back at the entrance." I said. I'd texted her on the way to finding Simon, letting my nose keep me on the right track.

Simon gave the pencils one last wistful look and I filed the brand name and number in the set for his next birthday present. We walked toward the exit and I felt every hair on my body standing up like there was another predator nearby. I started to glance around but Simon shook his head subtly.

"Don't look, it only encourages them."

I looked in the reflective glass beside us to see a group of girls around our age trailing us and giggling. They wore impractical clothes like mini-skirts and heels and covered their faces and natural scent with perfumes and too much makeup. They reminded me forcibly of Barbie dolls and I shuddered.

Finally the doors to the parking lot appeared, sunlight filtering in like the gates to freedom that they were and I resisted the urge to run and never look back. It was official, malls sucked.

* * *

Kit's minivan jumped along the dirt road, making me bounce in my seat. Derek put his arm around my shoulders, tucking me against his side—more secure than any seatbelt. I gave him a grateful smile and he nuzzled the top of my head.

"God you two are going to make me barf." Tori complained, fake gagging. "Puppy love."

I smirked at that. "At least I go for guys outside of the family."

"We agreed to never speak of that!" Simon said loudly, looking a little green.

Derek had told me about the night that Simon had actually had so much girl-withdrawal that he'd caved and snuck off with Tori. The next morning he apparently claimed temporary insanity and pretended to be deaf whenever she was around.

The whole sibling thing was still taking some adjusting. Since Tori's mother was still missing in action Tori was staying with the boys and me. We made an unusual temporary family to say the least. Kit's fully blooded Korean and a lawyer/sorcerer, Simon's a half Swedish and half Korean sorcerer-in-training, Tori's half evil-bitchy witch and half Korean sorcerer, I'm a good old-fashioned American mix necromancer and Derek—the most exotic for last—half Icelandic and a quarter Japanese werewolf. If I ever researched genetics I had a heck of a subject group right at home. Kit, Simon and me were the only ones who actually looked like our heritage, Tori and Derek just inherited the hair from their Asian genes.

"What's up?" Derek touched my arm, getting my attention.

"Hmm? Nothing, just…"

"We're here kids!" Kit called from the driver's seat.

Derek perked up, camping was something he was good at, being part wolf and all. I smothered a giggle, he just looked so much like a puppy I expected him to stick his head out the window, tongue lolling—a mental image that made me have to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

"Okay! Everybody out!" Kit opened the sliding door and Derek had our seat belts off and was dragging me outside two and a half seconds later.

Simon followed shortly, kicking off his flip-flops and pulling off his shirt as he took off towards the dock, diving off the end without breaking stride.

Derek shook his head with an exasperated sigh. "Come on, we should unpack the-"

I grabbed my backpack and was running off to the bathrooms with Tori before he'd even finished talking.

"You can help unpack but you have to put on your bathing suit first." I glanced over my shoulder to see Kit grinning at Derek, tossing him his black swim trunks. "I bet you'll want to get in the water as soon as we're done."

I laughed at that and turned down the dirt road, preceding Tori into the small concrete building. It was about what you'd expect from a camp ground bathroom, just two stalls and two shower heads. I put down my backpack and started rummaging for my new bathing suit.

"Let me guess." Tori leaned up against the wall. "Dog boy made you get a grannie suit."

I shot her a smug grin. "He thinks that's what I got." I pulled out the bathing suit that I'd bought after Derek left and Tori's brows shot up.

"Go you." She actually smiled, she'd been trying to be nicer which I realized wasn't a front, it was just really hard for her to let down some of her water-tight shields.

I went behind the shower curtain and stripped, pulling on the suit. The bottom was pretty normal but the top was one of those strapless band things. It came with an attachable strap that you could lace in the middle and put around your neck and I attached it. Wearing a completely strapless top with Simon around was just asking for trouble—not that he'd pull it off but he'd probably toss me in the lake or something and goodbye bathing suit. I'd found the suit at the last minute, it had strawberries printed on it and I couldn't not buy it.

"Ugh." Tori rolled her eyes when I came out and I faltered.

"What?"

"It's just… so girly and cutsy. Yeah Dog Boy is going to freak."

I grinned. I'd stopped correcting her because she wouldn't stop calling him that and there wasn't any menace in her tone when she said it now.

Naturally Tori was wearing a black sporty bathing suit with a high-cut leg that made her already long legs seem even longer. Her skin had magically procured a sun-touched glow that made me jealous, Derek tanned just as easily with his olive skin and I turned around huffily while I pulled out my sunscreen and hosed myself with it. If I was lucky I'd get a tan line.

The bathroom was dimly lit but I could still see the collection of scars I'd accumulated in the past six months. I was grateful that the thin lines on my thigh were nearly invisible now, those had been from Derek when he was partially changed and I startled him. The other scars that seemed likely to heal completely were the three on my face from my encounter with a man-eating werewolf. The rest were there to stay; criss-crossing scars on my upper arm from a bullet and broken glass, a knife cut on my cheek, a scar on my side from a bullet graze, a scattering of slender scars around my chest and shoulder from where my necklace had exploded and the complete lack of color in my eyes.

"You know, sometimes I feel a little like Sally from a Nightmare Before Christmas." I twisted, testing the still tight scar tissue on my side.

"Please. Boys think battle scars are cool." Tori said with an eye-roll.

"Scars on _them_, not on their girlfriend and Derek has plenty of his own."

We wrapped on towels and slipped into our flip-flops before heading back. The sun felt warm and golden on my skin and I smiled, grateful for every ray. Nearly dying once and actually dying later can do that to you.

Derek was naturally helping his dad unload the car, putting down a cooler big enough for four teenagers and one adult to eat for two days.

My breath hitched. Derek was ripped from necessity not vanity but if anything knowing that body was for fighting and not for show just added to the hot factor. The big scratches that raked across his shoulder and chest stood out more than his other smaller scars, pale against the rest of his skin. I felt the familiar twinge of guilt, he'd gotten those rescuing me.

From his expression even in profile I could tell that he knew subconsciously that I was back. But being Derek he would finish helping his dad before coming out to play.

Tori snorted at my fixed gaze but I saw her give him an appreciative once-over before she went to get her book from her bag. I swallowed the territorial feeling that was beginning to be familiar. Because I was bonded to Derek I shared some of his werewolf-traits, such as being occasionally aggressively territorial. I shook it off and waved to catch Simon's eye before Derek got a good look at me. I didn't need to, Simon was gawking at me, mouth hanging open and I winked. He hinged his jaw and grinned, shooting a look Derek's way.

_Downwind_. I mouthed and he nodded.

I silently untied my towel from my waist and finally called to him. "Coming in?" I called with a grin, making sure there was plenty of distance so I had a good head start when he started running after me.

Derek's expression was worth the price of the suit, I'd have paid a thousand dollars just to get that look. His green eyes went wide and his lips parted, an expression of complete surprise being rapidly replaced by a scowl.

I think I got further than he had expected, racing halfway down the dock before he lifted me by the waist and I squeaked in protest. He tucked me under one arm like a duffel bag and marched us back down the dock.

"Where is the other bathing suit?" He asked, keeping his voice even as his eyes glittered dangerously.

"What other bathing suit?" I gave me the sweet and innocent look, which he didn't buy for a second.

"Go put on a towel. And a parka." He pointed at my backpack while I tried to stifle a laugh.

"You know I think I forgot my parka."

"Woah! Could use a hand here!" Kit yelled and Derek's head snapped up, seeing him holding a stack of firewood and two camp chairs.

Derek put me down with a stern look and jogged over and took them from his dad before he keeled over backwards. It wasn't until he got everything to the ground that he noticed Kit grinning and shading his eyes, watching the dock. I glanced over my shoulder and waved seconds before I went in with a swan-dive, those years of gymnastics once again coming to my aid. I heard a muffled splash and twisted to see a dark shape diving in after me and kicked hard away from the dock.

I didn't get far before the need to breathe won out. When I surfaced I got a quick breath before he yanked me back down by my ankle and encircled my waist with his hands. We both came up for air and I put my arms around his neck, blinking water out of my eyes and grinning.

"The 'wet look' is nice on you." I pushed his bangs back and pretended like he was giving me a loving smile instead of a hearty glare.

"What. Happened to the other bathing suit." He growled.

"This one has strawberries on it." I protested, pulling back enough to get some of the top out of the lake.

"And?"

I rolled my eyes. "And I wanted to see the look on your face when you saw it."

He checked his temper long enough to actually look at the bathing suit and his expression gentled as he brushed a strawberry. "It's… cute." He sighed begrudgingly.

I kissed him and we sank into the water, breaking apart only when the risk of drowning became a very real possibility. I slipped out of his arms and his hand trailed down my leg from thigh to the arch of my foot as I swam at a leisurely pace back to the dock.

He followed with long strokes and I smirked. "No doggy paddle?"

That got me dunked again, this time without the kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

Stark Love, Amanda, Derbs, Black Heart, and Suzi- I also did a fan-of-fans-girl dance when I saw that you guys had reviewed. It is so much more gratifying to have reviews from so many different perspectives at each step of the way than to go solo. I've really missed your feedback and am glad that I will be able to reconnect with my fans and buddies once again.

Mrs. Fiction, and Chlerek4ever- The cuteness is going to be a major factor in the story but there will also be some minor sexiness and adventureness. I hope you like the rest as much as the first chapter!

Silver Bird- Don't worry, I didn't forget you! I'm just answering your question separately; no it is not a one-shot. I don't think it will be as long as WBT but since it's the first in a possible series of nine consecutive stories I figured that would be okay with you guys.

Rikku- Thank you for your opinion, I definitely am more comfortable writing from Chloe's POV but I've also enjoyed reflecting on events that happened in WBT through Derek's eyes (later in the story). I may even try writing a story from a completely different perspective like Jeremy's or Tori's but I definitely want everyone's input before I try that.

More soon!

* * *

For the first time in awhile life was really good, I had claimed a camp chair and Chloe was settled on one of my knees, roasting two marshmallows on one stick. I'd resigned myself to accepting the swimsuit as it made her happy and we weren't in a heavily occupied vacation spot. I could deal with Simon's sneaked glances but if there were a bunch of strange guys eyeing Chloe I wouldn't be able to keep my temper in check. Siberia was looking like a good place for us to move to, I was sure I could find her a strawberry printed parka somewhere.

She yelped as her marshmallow caught fire, looking so horrified that Simon, Tori and I cracked up. There was a flash as dad took a picture of her—I wanted a copy of that one for sure.

I blew out the marshmallow and sandwiched it in graham crackers and chocolate. "I'll take this one." I smiled and patted the top of her head.

"What? After all that work I put into catching it on fire!" She swapped me the stick with the partially toasted marshmallow for the crispy smore. "I like them burned, it just caught faster than I thought."

"You _like_ them burned?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Bro you're the only kid on the planet who carefully toasts marshmallows." Simon rolled his eyes as his own caught fire. He blew it out and peeled off the top, eating it like a pudding cup.

"Don't you want the cinnamon graham crackers?" Chloe offered and I glared at her. I was already uncomfortable enough about him eating the marshmallows.

"You can have one." Kit waved him on and Simon went warp speed to grab the box.

"_One._" I repeated sternly and Simon rolled his eyes.

Chloe squeezed my knee and I nearly forgot about monitoring Simon's blood sugar.

Tori reluctantly put a bookmark in _The Man in the Iron Mask_ as her flashlight started dying and sat back, giving Chloe a shuttered look that I didn't like. "So. Simon said that you promised real ghost stories."

Dad glanced at Chloe, a slightly nervous expression on his face. I seconded that nervousness, when she wanted she was the most powerful one of us and I did not like the idea of her tempting the ghosts in these woods. I checked to make sure her bracelets were still in place. The original ones that she had made in the safe house had been destroyed when she overused her power and one of the first things she had done when she got out of the hospital was commission a jeweler to make new ones. They were still mostly copper but smaller and less cumbersome than the first version.

"Chloe-" I began slowly.

"It's okay, it's just a story." She smiled reassuringly at me. "If I remember correctly we've been to these woods before." She gave me a look.

I nodded, I'd intentionally suggested this place, it was the last campsite we'd used when we had the stolen car from the Edison Group.

"Well. Last time we were here I was in the forest talking to Derek." She leaned back against my chest and I wrapped my arms around her waist. "It had been a long day of running from rogue werewolves and Edison operatives and I had that kind of antsy nervous energy that you get after a ton of adrenaline and I was pacing. I remember the frost breaking under my steps and how cold it was."

"Below twenty." I added, getting myself a smile from Chloe.

"With a wind that bit right through my clothes."

Not that she'd been wearing a jacket. She'd been flustered enough to leave it behind.

"I paced towards Derek, trying to plan our next move."

_More like first move._ I kept a smile off my face as I remembered our first kiss shortly after.

"When I turned there was an axe swinging towards my face." She leapt to her feet, making a hacking motion and Simon jumped in his seat. "The axe sliced right through me, leaving a cold path down my body as I stumbled back." She traced the front of her body where the axe had swung and took a stumbled step back, letting me catch her like I had that night. "It was the axe murderer of green valley! He stumbled towards me, dragging a mangled leg."

_And now we get to the fictional part_. I settled back and watched her talk, hands gesturing, voice pitching as she crawled towards Tori. Telling her in a cracked voice that she looked just like the wife that was hidden at home… underneath the floorboards.

Tori looked spooked. Chloe was just getting to how the murderer had conjured up one of his victim's ghosts and was getting ready to murder her again when she went rigid.

"Chloe…?" Simon asked hesitantly, not sure if this was part of the story.

She stumbled back, tripping on a log and falling in the grass before I could catch her. "N-no." She whispered. "P-please n-not again, I-I was just t-telling a s-story! I-I d-didn't m-mean to summon you!" Her gaze followed something just behind Tori. "L-look out!" She screamed and Tori dove to the side, eyes wild.

I was halfway out of my chair, getting ready to block Chloe from whatever horror she was reliving when she started cracking up.

"You should see your faces!" She laughed, clutching her sides and trying to catch her breath.

I settled back down, trying to decide if I would smile or frown at her lying on the ground and giggling while color returned to everyone else's face. Gradually dad started grinning and Simon laughed at Tori who was glaring at Chloe.

"No more ghost stories from the necromancer." I said, pulling Chloe back up on my knee.

She grinned at me. "But I have a really good one about a sociopathic half-demon telekinetic ghost."

"Liz?" Simon asked with an innocent head-cock.

A series of marshmallows pelted him in the face.

"Hey Liz." Chloe waved at empty space. You can see why we were easily fooled by her lying about seeing a ghost, it's not like any of us could tell one way or another. "Of course I wasn't talking about you, obviously it would be a guy ghost."

She smiled at a spot just next to Simon and I saw a slight shimmer in the air, like heat rising off of asphalt.

"Since when can she do that?" I asked, pointing at it.

"Wha-?" She followed my finger and stared as when the shimmering spot moved so did I. "You can see her?"

"No. Just… something."

"Can… either of you two…?" She started but Tori and Simon were already shaking their heads, giving me the look that normal people gave Chloe when she talked to ghosts.

Dad was staring at the two of us, face pale. He knew Chloe and I were bonded on some werewolf level but I may have sort of left out the part about us being beyond the chemical and physical level of what constitutes a normal bond and onto the spiritual power-acquisition level. He was giving me the you're-in-deep-shit look but kept his mouth shut with Simon and Tori in hearing range.

I stood, placing Chloe in my chair. "Seat check."

"_What?_ You can't use me like a bookmark!" She crossed her arms and worked up a glare.

"It's a chair. Not a book."

"You're a butthead."

I rolled my eyes and started towards the car, after a few steps dad joined me and we walked towards the direction of the bathrooms but kept going past them when we got there.

"So." Dad began. "You failed to mention that you and Chloe were…"

"Yeah."

"Does she know?"

"Yeah."

"Are you being safe?"

I stopped and stared. "With _what?_"

He rolled his eyes but looked a little uncomfortable. "You know the word _mate_ is pretty loaded Dare."

"You… you think that I… that we…" I was floored. Sure Chloe and I had been a couple in human terms for over three months now but we were going slow. Very slow, specifically _because_ the wolf part of me already thought of her as mine and adding a physical claim like that would cement it for me, and that wasn't fair to her. "No."

"You're… not being safe?"

I tossed up my hands, sure my face was completely red. "No we're not… involved like that."

"What? Really?" He looked taken-aback. "Maybe you don't take after me or Simon."

I glared at him.

"So she's not ready?"

"_I'm_ not ready. You know what that means to my 'kind'. I'm giving her time to adjust to the whole energy dynamic, then I'll tell her about the physical… bonding." I could not believe I was talking to my dad about this I could not BELIEVE I was talking to my DAD about this.

"You should probably talk to Jeremy." He suggested hesitantly. He had adjusted remarkably well to knowing who my biological dad was but I was still trying to figure out how to compartmentalize Jeremy as my father-figure role was already filled.

I made a non-committal grunt.

He sighed heavily. "I should probably not do this." He handed over a glass bottle full of an amber-colored fluid. "Simon said that Chloe made you promise to buy liquor if he let you and Chloe escape the safe house without a fuss."

I stared at it, Makers Mark. With one of those red wax tops. "Dad. This is super illegal."

This time the sigh was exasperated. "For god's sake Dare try to be a normal teenager for once."

"Simon is normally a handful, you want me to get him drunk?" I asked incredulously, shaking the bottle. "And what about Tori? Uncontrollable powers ring a bell?"

He clapped me on the shoulder with a grin. "With you around who needs a conscious? I'm going to bed when we get back, I'll let you decide whether or not to let the others have some much-deserved normal teenage fun. Just don't tell them you got it from me."

We got back to the campsite where Simon was talking animatedly with his towel pulled up over his head in a really bad imitation of a ghost.

_I'm going to regret this._ I looked down at the bottle. _But dad's right. They do deserve to have some fun._

"Okay I'm going to bed, test your blood sugar Simon." Dad announced, pulling his sleeping bag off to the far side of the clearing. The nights were still cold enough that bugs weren't a problem and we'd decided to sleep in the open as long as it didn't rain. "Night girls."

"Night!" Everyone said, I just sent him a glare. I couldn't believe he'd dumped the responsibility of choosing whether or not to get my mate and sibling…s drunk.

"Hey you." Chloe smiled, holding out her slender hand to me and everything seemed much simpler.

I wrapped my fingers around the proffered hand, engulfing it completely.

"Whatcha got there?" She nodded at the bottle but her eyes shot to dad's retreating back while she arched an eyebrow. She knew.

"You did make me agree." I gave her the bottle and lifted her, settling her back down on my lap after I sat back down in my chair.

"Is that…?" Simon squinted. "Dude! I so did not think you would get any!"

"Shut up and pass the bottle." Tori said but with an almost smile.

I cracked it open and the wave of alcohol fumes that hit my nostrils made me sneeze. It smelled sweet and faintly like corn once the acrid burn of alcohol faded. I shrugged and tried a sip. After changing there really wasn't much that could make me make a face and this was no exception, it actually wasn't too bad.

Chloe slipped the bottle from my fingers, I opened my mouth to protest but she put her finger against it. "I just want to try it. I'm not going to risk getting drunk and raising the whole forest." She tipped back the bottle and took a sizable gulp, like it was soda or juice instead of straight liquor. "Blegh!" She coughed and handed the bottle quickly to Simon.

I gave her a look. _Just want to try it my ass._

Simon grinned at her. "Pretty hardcore girl." I was glad he'd stopped calling her "Love," the nickname had grated on my nerves. He took an even bigger drink and made a face. "Okay NOW I'm going to test my blood sugar before that kicks in."

Tori grabbed the bottle as he passed and took a swig, making no face whatsoever.

"Done this before?" Chloe teased.

She rolled her eyes and took another sip. "Once or twice."

I took the bottle from her and drank, it was going to be my last since both me and Chloe were wary of losing control period, much less under the influence. Simon would have to babysit Tori if she started throwing fireballs, or we'd just toss her in the lake.

I felt a strange warmth spread throughout my body and I passed the bottle back to Tori, bypassing Chloe completely. My nose seemed a little burnt out from the wave of alcohol fumes and I felt relaxed. I pulled Chloe so her back pressed against my chest and we both looked up at the sky.

"There's Ursa Major." I pointed and traced a line through the stars. "And Ursa Minor." I shifted and pointed again.

"Isn't that the dog star?" Chloe asked, arching backwards to grin at me.

I rolled my eyes. "No. It's part of Lyra."

She settled back in and smiled up at the sky. "My favorite constellation has always been the Pleiades. They're so close together that they look less lonely than the others." She said this quietly and I rubbed my fingers down her arms.

"We should play a game." Tori said and I glanced over to see her handing the bottle to Simon as he sat back down. "Like Never Have I Ever."

Simon rolled his eyes. "Sounds like a game where just you would be drunk."

"Oh I don't think so." Tori slid a sly glance our way and I stifled a growl.

"Sure." Chloe piped up and I stared at her. "Let's try this 'normal teenager' thing."

She eased off my lap to rummage through the cooler, pulling out three normal cokes and one diet. She passed them around and ordered us all to take a drink, then poured a measure of whiskey into each bottle. I thought of stopping her, remembering my decision to stop drinking, but the warmth had spread to my head and I didn't know why I'd worried so much. The biggest doses went into Simon and Tori's but mine still got a hefty shot. She topped off her coke without drinking any so hardly more than a thimble-full went into hers, being the one who could see in the dark I was the only one who noticed. No amount of warm fuzzy feeling in my stomach or head was going to make me comfortable with Chloe getting really drunk.

"Never have I ever kissed a girl." Tori started.

"Good for you..?" I said slowly, unsure of why she was telling us this.

Tori sighed exasperatedly. "Every time you've done the thing you drink. I've never kissed a girl but you and Simon have, so drink."

"Huh." I drank. So did Simon.

"Your turn Simon." She nodded in his direction.

"Never have I ever… worn a bikini." Simon grinned as both Chloe and Tori drank. "Well that was easy, you're up Chlo."

"Never have I ever gotten lower than a B in a class." She smiled at me but her mouth opened in surprise as I drank with Simon.

"Theater." I shuddered and she rolled her eyes. "Never have I ever had a sorcerer for a father." I watched Simon and Tori drink.

"Never have I ever had a penis." Tori laughed when Simon snarfed coke. "And now things will start getting interesting."

"Never have I ever had… not… a penis." Simon made a face at Tori when she rolled her eyes at his eloquent wording.

"Never have I ever changed into a wolf." Chloe said as soon as she swallowed.

"Cheap shot." I drank.

"Never have I ever owned a cat."

Only Tori drank, I looked at Chloe and she shrugged. "We moved too much for pets."

"Never have I ever seen a ghost." Tori raised her eyebrow when I drank with Chloe.

"I summoned a ghost who could materialize." Chloe explained.

"Never have I ever bench-pressed a sofa." Simon grinned as I drank. "Which was pretty awesome might I add."

"He dared me." I smiled when Chloe looked at me incredulously.

"All right then. Never have I ever been able to track someone by scent." She looked at my half-empty bottle. "You're going to need another soon."

"It's not my fault this turned into take-cheap-shots-at-Derek." I scowled at her. "Never have I ever used any form of telekinesis."

"Never have I ever kissed Chloe." Tori shot back at after drinking. Her haughty look turned surprised when both Simon and I drank.

"Sorry about that." Simon slid a guilty smile my way.

I shrugged, I'd gotten the girl in the end so it didn't matter to me anymore… much.

"You guys are more interesting than I thought." Tori said in a tone that bordered something like respect.

"Never have I ever kissed… me." Simon looked triumphant, then wilted as Tori drank while glaring at him. "Oh god why did I bring that up?"

Chloe giggled after taking a small sip. "Never have I ever kissed Tori."

This circular game was getting boring so I decided to take matters into my own hands and drank with Simon—who still looked green. This decision to spice things up was probably aided in no small part by the fuzzy relaxed mood I was in. Chloe whipped around so fast she nearly fell off my lap and Simon snarfed again.

"WHAT?" They said in unison. Tori just leaned back, face impassive, waiting to see where I went with this.

"I'm sorry Chloe. I meant to tell you before…" I looked away from her face like I was ashamed but really just needed to compose myself before I started laughing. "But Tori and I… we just have this connection, you know?"

I looked back at Chloe as her look of disbelief turned to understanding. We both looked at Simon who was staring open-mouthed at me and Chloe looked back to me, eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Oh Derek. I… I wondered why you've been so distant… and all those text messages. I really should have guessed before now." She ducked her head, letting her hair hang in her face as her shoulders shook.

I was worried for a second when I saw actual tears in her eyes but they were tears of mirth as she shook with silent laughter.

"HOLD UP." Simon waved his arms around frantically. "YOU AND AND AND _TORI_?"

We all looked at him and his pale wide-eyed face moved to each of us, ending with Tori who still had an unreadable expression.

"WHAT. THE. FUCK." Simon gaped and Chloe dissolved into helpless laughter.

"You… should… see… your face." She gasped and I started laughing with her.

Even Tori managed almost a giggle as Simon relearned how to not panic.

"_What the fuck._" Simon said again, this time with less horror. "I seriously thought I'd just fallen into a wormhole into an alternate universe or something!"

"You are _funny_ drunk." Chloe grinned at me.

"I am not-" Even as I started the protest I realized that it wasn't true, that I was unquestionably silly-feeling and probably drunk.

"You are an _ass_ drunk." Simon countered, shaking his head ruefully.

"Never have I ever kissed Tori." I grinned as Simon drank yet again, this time without the coke coming back out through his nose.

"I think that's as good a note as any to end on." Chloe smiled and leaned back against my chest.

I crossed my arms around her, reassuring through my body language that I would never, could never, cheat on her.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys, just a short chapter to tide you over until tomorrow when I'm better rested. I'm sleepy and as such will make a general shout out to everyone- you rock! And give you this, let it be an appetizer to whet your appetite for the next update! ... Which will be tomorrow, I promise.

* * *

I woke up to a soft whispering near my ear. I rubbed it, hoping to shoo whatever annoying bug had landed near it away but the whispering kept going. I sighed and stretched, one arm stiff from being in the same position all night.

Derek had insisted, even drunk, on propriety and the boys had put their sleeping bags above but facing ours so that when we all went to bed our heads were still together and I'd fallen asleep holding Derek's hand. As stupidly adorable as that was it meant that when I woke up my arm needed some serious stretching. Last night we'd gone swimming again whilst drunk and laughed and were stupid until a park ranger came by and told us we'd gotten a noise complaint. With that buzz-kill we'd put out the fire and laid out our sleeping bags, laughing (quietly) and telling jokes until we were lulled to sleep by the dulcet sound of Kit snoring.

I carefully unlaced my fingers from Derek's much bigger ones and slipped out of my sleeping bag. Being science boy Derek had made sure everyone drank water and ate something before we went to bed. Still, the alcohol had put them all in a deep recovery sleep while the little that I drank worked itself off before we even went to bed.

I stretched and yawned and when I finally really looked around I realized what the whispering was. Ghosts. Again.

I sighed resignedly and walked to the bathrooms with my backpack, trailing a small group of ghosts behind me like some freaky parade.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom and brush my teeth. If any of you so much as sticks a finger through that wall I'll banish everyone. Got it?" I looked at each one of them while I talked and received a few nods but a fair share of impudent glares as well. "Look, I'll listen to what you have to say but I really have to pee. So wait here."

Everyone nodded this time and I went inside, using the toilet first so if anyone got impatient the worst they'd catch me doing was washing my face. I brushed my teeth extra-thoroughly to get the last of the whiskey taste out of my mouth.

When I went outside my ghosts were circling a girl heading to the bathroom who had an unexplainable case of chills. I said good morning to her and glared at the ghosts as soon as she was inside.

"All right, talk." I said as we all traipsed back to the campsite. "Starting with whoever has been dead the longest." I clarified when they all started talking at once.

A young girl in a plain white shift pushed forward, she could have come from any period but the hand stitching around her cuffs made me think that she had been here for awhile.

"Please miss." She scuffed the ground with her foot. "I just want to talk to someone, it's been so long and you have such a pretty color." She touched the air a few feet in front of my heart.

"Okay. Anyone else who wants to just talk come over to this side and I'll take care of you last." I walked to the end of the dock and sat cross-legged, pulling a notebook and pen from my backpack. "Line up."

A few just wanted me to touch them, something about blessing or purifying their souls with my necromantic energy. Seemed to be a load of crap but if it helped them move on then it was easy enough to do. When I touched them I could tell if their souls were mostly good-feeling or mostly evil-feeling. A man who tried to get blessed had a darkness to his soul that felt wrong and when I asked he started yelling about getting stuck here forever for one eensy weensy tiny murder. I banished him.

Luckily only one had a real favor to ask. A woman who had a stroke while hiking never had her body found and she wanted me to give the coordinates to the park rangers, easy enough.

I was talking with the last of the ghosts, one of the many that had been dead too long for favors and just wanted to chat when I felt a spine-tingling warmth as Derek walked out to the dock. He sat silently behind me and put his hand on the back of my neck, stroking away some of the tension that I hadn't realized had gathered there.

"So in short, yeah, African-Americans are treated like people now." I told the dark-skinned man who had been lynched not far from the park. "With the civil rights movement it's illegal to discriminate, of course there's still a few bad apples here and there but in general things are a lot better. We even have an African-American president right now."

"President? Of America?" He asked in his deep raspy voice, a brilliant smile lighting his face. "Well I'll be." With that, he disappeared. That seemed to happen when ghosts finished whatever business they had on our plane of existence or whatever. I assume they ascend or get to rest or something, whenever they go they seem to be happy about it so it had to be a good thing.

"Phew. That's the last one." I slumped tiredly into Derek.

"How long have you been doing this?" He asked. His hair was still sleep-mussed and he hadn't bothered to pull on more than jeans before coming out to check on me.

"No idea, since I woke up I guess." I stood and stretched, hearing a few joints crack.

I offered Derek a hand-up but he just pushed to his feet and gave me his slow crooked smile. "I think you could pull all day and you'd never get me up."

I rolled my eyes and flexed my arm impressively, pointing to the lean muscle there. "See! I'm buff enough to handle you!"

In response he picked up my backpack in one hand and tucked me under his other arm like a bundle of firewood. Even with me kicking and wriggling to get free he didn't break stride once until we were back at the campsite where Simon and Kit were pushing strips of bacon around a skillet.

"You are a butthead." I grumbled, trying to be as dignified as I could be when dangling a foot off the ground.

Simon took one look at us, me sulking in my green summer dress and Derek no doubt looking as smug as a dog with a bone, and burst out laughing. Kit chuckled as Derek finally allowed me to descend and I punched him in the arm, probably doing more damage to my hand than his arm.

Kit handed me a plate, still smiling. "We made yours first Chloe, I know you don't eat meat."

My fakin bacon and eggs were still warm and the fact that they had made everything separate really touched me.

"Thanks guys, I really appreciate that."

"Well Derek said you were afraid of raising your breakfast from the dead after eating it and we decided that going vegetarian was a wise decision." Kit said sagely.

I shot the werewolf in question a glare, he ignored me and looked innocently at the sky.

"You didn't have to go into the gory details." I grumbled, sitting in a camp chair on the opposite side of the fire from him.

"I was just making sure you didn't reanimate your bacon." He shrugged and dug into his own breakfast.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You should be making sure I don't reanimate YOUR bacon Fido."

Kit choked on his own breakfast pig and Simon snorted a laugh.

Derek scowled daggers at me. I ignored him. And so began another day in paradise.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm here to make good on my promise!

Seiya, and Rikku sorry to disappoint but you know that both Derek and Chloe are too responsibly-minded to get into in big-time drunken shenanagins! Don't you worry though, I make it up to you in this chapter ~.^

D&C4E, Silver Bird, Wolf Lover, and Mrs. Fic.- Glad I could entertain you guys! I've written other fanfics with other characters but I have to say that Derek and Chloe are my favorites to write, there's just so much comedic opportunity with him being all moody and growly and her being impish and sunny.

Amanda- My sweetheart and I are vegetarians too, he does it for some zen-y respecting life thing and I do it just because I end up cooking veggie for him anyway and it's just more convenient. I will guiltily admit to fantasizing about churrascaria's (basically Brazilian meat bars) every now and then. The biggest draw-back I've found is ordering in restaurants, there's usually only one-if any-veg options and even then it's always always always pasta and I love food as much as I love Kelley Armstrong (I know *gasp*).

Suzi- I seriously doubt she coudl bring bacon back to life but I think even just the teeny vague possibility that it _might_ happen would be enough for her to go veggie forever.

Black Heart- Thanks for keeping me updated on the POV stuff! I definitely try to write Derek as a drier more focused character.

* * *

"Let's walk around the lake." Chloe nudged me out of my sprawl on the dock with the toe of her sandal.

I stretched and looked around, dad was fishing off the end of the dock, Tori was in a hammock reading and Simon was working in his sketchbook in one of the camp chairs. Everyone was happily being relaxed and low-energy. It was a perfect lazy afternoon, sunny and hot without a cloud in the sky.

"Come on! I want to explore the lake." This time the nudge was more like a kick and I squinted at her.

"Can't you see how comfortable I am?" I gave her my best kicked-puppy look, which wasn't hard since I was vaguely related to canines and she _was_ kicking me. "Sit down, relax, enjoy the day."

"NOW." She glared at me.

I groaned and pushed to my feet. "We should take a water bo-" I stopped as she handed me a full bottle. "And you should bring-" She held up her sun hat and before I even started to say anything else showed me an energy bar and bag of beef jerky she put them into a shoulder bag and for good measure showed me the small tube of sunscreen she'd packed.

"Can we go _now_?" She put on the hat and looked so cute with it and her sun dress that I forgave her for making me get up.

I took her hand. "Yeah, we can go."

We started along the quasi-beach, Chloe furthest from the water in her sandals while I walked at the water's edge in my bare feet. Every now and then she would stop to look at a rock or a plant and I'd get a chance to look around the woods along the lake's edge.

I shaded my eyes and looked across the water to the sheer drop-off on the other side. Maybe I'd get Simon to go cliff-jumping with me, naturally he'd go from the lower outcropping but that higher one would be perfect for my more durable build.

Chloe looked up from where she had been luring minnows to the shallows with her fingertips, the smile on her face fading when she followed my gaze.

"Oh no. Absolutely not." She shot to her feet.

"Absolutely not what?" I replied absent-mindedly as I got a rough idea of how high the cliff was based on the distance from us and the angle of its slant into the water. I'd say sixty feet with a base that was ten to fifteen feet further into the water than the top. A manageable jump if you were a werewolf. The real trick would be the landing. Two boulders stuck out of the water on either side of the cliff, making the sweet spot less than ten feet wide. I smiled.

"Derek Souza if you even _think_ about jumping off that cliff I will never make you oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies again!"

I glanced down at her, smile still lingering. "You've never made cookies." And with Chloe's idea of home cooking being delivery... that was probably for the best.

"Well then you don't know what you're missing do you?"

"Other than charcoal-poisoning I suppose I don't."

"Charcoal is used as an antidote for poison Bill Nye."

_That's my girl._ "But in large quantities it absorbs nutrients, leaving the body deficient."

She glared at me. "You haven't even seen me cook before!"

"And I suspect there is a reason for that."

She stomped off, I swallowed a chuckle and shot another calculating look at the cliffs. _Well she forbade me from jumping… but not from diving._ I went back to exploring before she caught me looking and forbade even that.

"Here!" Chloe exclaimed after another fifteen minutes of walking

I looked up from where I'd been scouting a deer trail. She had found a big flat rock that was just a short wade into the shallows and was already taking off her sandals. She was in the water by the time I'd reached the beach, holding her skirt to keep it dry with one hand and keeping her hat from flying off with the other. I followed as quietly as I could, that was the trouble with water, I could walk on pretty much anything else without making any sound but water had a mind of its own.

I heard a gasp and saw a wave hit Chloe mid-thigh, high enough to get her dress wet. _Speaking of a mind of it's own... _

She clambered up on the boulder before another wave hit her and shook out her skirt. I stepped up behind her, glad to be back on dry quietish ground.

"Gee it sure would be nice if I had a _boyfriend_ who was like, oh I don't know, _super tall_ and could have _carried _me." She turned to glare at me and yelped. "Jeez! Wasn't Simon going to get you a bell or something?"

I rolled my eyes and resumed the sprawl that had been so rudely interrupted on the sun-warmed rock. After a full minute of glowering Chloe lay down on her stomach beside me.

She made it a whole thirty seconds without breaking the comfortable silence. "Hey Derek?"

I raised my eyebrows so she'd know I was listening.

"What are you going to do after graduation?" Her voice was hesitant.

I looked up at the sky, mentally going over the academic timeline I had laid out for myself. I could have graduated high school long before but I wanted to accumulate as many college credits as I could so I'd only have to take classes relating directly to my major in undergrad and get into a PhD program as early as I could. I liked school but so many more interesting avenues of study were available with a PhD. Undergrad I didn't really care about, it was the doctoral programs that I wanted to go to a good school for.

"Not sure." I mumbled, keeping my eyes averted.

She leaned over me until I had to look at her or roll over to avoid it. I looked at her grayscale eyes; they had a depth to them that was completely unique to her. I saw my own eyes reflected there, green flecks, with enough color for both of us.

"Liar." She murmured.

I wanted to tell her about how hard it was for me, that for the first time in my life I was conflicted about what I wanted to do. The human in me, logical, objective, comfortable with emotionally distancing myself from potential complications was at war with the wolf in me, an animal, pure instinct and emotion.

The wolf knew exactly what it wanted. I had a mate, a real true mate and even without the physical bond I knew—from research and from my gut feeling—that I would never let Chloe go and pretending that what I had with her wasn't already permanent was just a lie to soothe my human half.

As I processed this I watched the reflection of my eyes shift, green iris's dominating the whole cornea with the exception of the black pupil and a hint of black in the corners. Wolf eyes in a human face.

I looked away.

Chloe turned my face back to hers and, looking into my altered eyes, kissed me. The wolf won and I pulled her on top of me, kissing her back fiercely, claiming every inch of her as mine.

Buried deep in her scent of strawberries, sunshine, fresh green plants and rich dark earth was my scent, which would always be a part of her. Even if I was gone, run away or dead, it would be there her whole life. The wolf in the field of strawberries.

I broke away abruptly, jerking my arm back from where I had been trapping her to my body and sliding my other hand out of her hair where I had been pressing her possessively into the kiss. I stared up at her, terrified of how much I'd given into the wolf's demands, and flipped us over, setting her down gently and getting myself out of arms reach.

"W-What's wrong?"

The look of confusion on Chloe's face barely slacked what I felt looking at her whole body tremble as she tried to catch her breath, at her dilated eyes and swollen lips. I closed my own eyes and took a deep shuddering breath.

"Derek?" She hesitantly touched my arm and I swallowed, pushing back the desires and the instincts until I felt the wolf reluctantly recede.

As soon as I was sure I was in control again I caught her hand and laced my fingers with hers.

"Derek talk to me, what's going on?" She held tightly to my hand and I could feel her pulse racing. "Please. What aren't you telling me?"

I looked at her and tried to speak but my throat constricted as if it wasn't made for speech.

"When's the last time you changed?" She asked suddenly.

I swallowed and tried again. "A while back."

"How long is 'a while'?" Her eyes narrowed. "You have to change AT LEAST every week. But Elena said twice a week is better."

I thought back. "The night before Tori's birthday party."

"Tor-… Derek that was _two weeks ago._ No freaking wonder you've been flipping out on me!"

"I have not been-"

"Oh yes you have! Lately whenever we start anything like this," She gestured vaguely between the two of us and where we'd been lying moments before but still blushed. "You freak out!"

I looked away. When she said it like that it made me feel like I was being angsty and dramatic and I scowled.

"Either you tell me what's going on in that overlarge brain of yours or… or next time I go swimming with Simon I'm going topless!"

"You wouldn't." I growled, glaring at her.

"So help me I will!"

I looked at her defiant expression, arms crossed and eyes narrowed and while I didn't believe she'd go swimming topless, I knew she would do something equally drastic if I didn't tell her.

"I… it's getting more and more difficult to stay in control." I said slowly, curling and uncurling my free hand into a fist. "The… wolf… part of me doesn't want to stop."

Her arms dropped and her expression turned to something else, something more like pain. "So… The human part of you wants to stop." She bit her lip. "I see."

"No! Damnit!" I slammed my fist into the rock in frustration and she yelped, immediately checking to see if I'd broken it. I pulled away from her, dramatic effect is fairly nullified when followed by first aid. "No part of me wants to stop!"

She gave a long-suffering sigh. "Derek. Have you considered that maybe you're trying to blame 'the wolf' for a little much? If you really want to see everything as split then fine, let's look at this from both angles. From a human perspective I am your _girlfriend_ and we are teenagers and you are _a guy_, all of which means messing around is totally kosher. From a wolf's perspective I am your super-charged _soul bound_ mate! Which since it usually implies that being mated is for life _and beyond_ I am pretty damn sure that sometime in the next, oh say, ninety years you're going to have to get over this… this idea that touching me is bad! Between the two of them I'd say at this point the wolf is definitely the more romantic perspective!"

I stared at her. "The whole damn point is that we ARE teenagers. Teenagers don't have life-mates, they have flings and sweethearts that don't last through college. They do not commit themselves to another person _forever_."

"Well they sure as hell don't turn into wolves or raise the dead either!" She grabbed my shoulders, eyes emphatic. "How many times have you risked your life for me?"

I paused, surprised at the question. "I don't know."

"At least five but I can guarantee more." She scooted closer to me so she was kneeling in between my knees and moved her hands to my face. "What do you think I would give to save you?"

I saw the answer, literally and every day. She had snuck into the Edison Group's compound because she didn't want me going in without her. I was killed. I remembered her asking me to get up and trying to, but not being in my body any more. I remembered being separate from everything but unable to leave her behind and her saying to the man who killed me,

"_You took him from me. Now you will bring him back._"

And then the pain as she used her power to take his soul from him and use it to bring me back to life, not as a zombie, but like I'd never died at all. I'd snapped back into my body and into consciousness as her pendant broke and sent pieces of aquamarine piercing through her shoulder and chest like shrapnel but the damage to my heart still kept me paralyzed. I'd watched, screaming in my mind for her to stop as she started to fall, pushing the last of that energy into healing the rupture that had killed me.

I'd been able to move then, and ripped her away from where she held Davidoff's already cooling body. Dad and Simon had come then, dad took one look at Chloe and started shouting for help, a paramedic, an ambulance, anything. I had just tried to keep Chloe breathing until help got there.

Her heart stopped as we got to the hospital, she said my name and then died. I'd been there when they had the defibrillator, when they thought they couldn't bring her back and dad had said I owed my life to her. I told him I didn't want to live if the price for my life was Chloe's, and I hadn't. I don't think I really started breathing again until I felt her heart start.

The next few days were hell. She had so many injuries that it seemed like she was always in surgery or barely hanging on. Her father had been able to afford a private room with a bathroom which I was grateful for because I never left her. I didn't eat, I didn't sleep. Only when her vitals had stabilized enough that she wasn't critical I went to the cafeteria, knowing she was in a coma, not knowing if she would ever wake up.

I left Simon to watch her and I'd made it through the cafeteria doors when I felt it; she was awake. I felt it run through me like a shock, freezing me in place for about a millisecond before I turned and ran. Dad heard Simon talking, then saw me and preemptively started calming down the nurse who leapt to her feet as I slammed the door open.

And the first thing she had said; _"You're alive… Thank God."_

I'd promised the wolf then that I would always be there for her, even if that meant admitting to myself that I would commit my whole life to her at seventeen, and there was nothing I could do-or wanted to do-to change that.

I came back to the present where Chloe was watching me patiently, waiting for me to stop being an ass. I reached up and pulled down the strap on her sundress, bearing her shoulder and the dozens of narrow scars on it. I pulled the strap lower, folding down the top few inches of the dress so I could see everywhere that the jewel had stabbed through her body.

I wrapped one arm around her waist and let the other hand trace the marks she would always have from saving my life. I pressed my lips to her bare shoulder and hugged her.

"I'm sorry." I said against her skin.

She laced her fingers in my hair and I felt her smile. "For what?"

"For being an idiot."

"You're forgiven." She pulled my hair back until she could reach my mouth and kissed me. "Now let's head back and get some dinner."

I slipped my fingers under the strap of her dress and felt a sense of purely male satisfaction in watching her blush as I slid it back into place. "I don't think we'll be missed for another few minutes."

She smiled brilliantly at that, her nose crinkling the way it did when she was being impish. "No, probably not."

We lay back down and she put her head on my chest, ear over my heart while I pressed my palm against her back, feeling her heartbeat and reassuring myself that she was alive and safe.


	5. Chapter 5

D&C4Ever and Team-EC - As long as I don't get too burned out I do plan on writing _both_ graduations and all the little drama and humor that comes with them.

Seiya and Suzi- Derek is a boy and therefore must jump off of the most dangerous thing possible, it's hardwired into their brains. Penis = thrill seeking. :D

Sam and Silver Bird - Thanks for the shout out! And yes, reanimated bacon is about the best threat ever to a guy who eats his weight everyday!

Black Heart- You totally got what I was trying to put into Dereky-words; he's completely logic-oriented and can compartmentalize like nobody's business but he's always got that counter-balance of woofiness which makes him such an interesting character.

Keep up the reviews folks! I definitely get psyched when I see that I have new ones!

* * *

The nice thing about your family—newly acquired or not—knowing that your boyfriend was a werewolf was that sneaking into the woods together didn't require any actual sneaking.

"After dinner Derek's going to change and I'm going with him." I told Kit while the others were busy burning their hot dogs. "Is that okay?"

He turned with a smile, handing me a package of veggie dogs and buns. "You know you don't have to ask Chloe. Of course it's fine and letting him get some exercise would be doing us all a favor."

We both turned to look at Derek who, despite being across the campsite and across a crackling fire and in between Simon and Tori bickering, scowled at us. Bionic wolf senses strike again.

"Yup. He's overdue." I smiled sweetly and Derek scowled some more. "Sometimes I actually like him better as a wolf." I stepped back to give Kit room as he jumped down from raiding the action packer strapped to the top of the car.

"Oh? Why is that?" He asked with a smile.

"He can't talk." We grinned at each other and walked back to the others.

Kit was definitely one of the most unusual parents I'd ever met. I guess that was natural since he'd raised two kids while on the run, one of whom was a genetically modified werewolf and the other who was three handfuls even without any genetic boosts. When we first met he'd taken it pretty well that I happened to be channeling a massive amount of energy that gave me telekinetic powers and made my voice all weird and two-toned, not to mention that I was dressed like a vampire. He'd also immediately caught onto the bond that I had with Derek and seemed genuinely happy that his anti-social constantly conflicted son had someone who accepted him for who he was. He'd welcomed me and Tori into the family with open arms.

"Hey." Derek touched my arm, getting my attention. "What's up? You're spacing out on me."

"I was just thinking about how lucky I am to be here." I smiled at him. "Thank you."

He looked taken-aback but when his dad caught his eye with a smile he shrugged nonchalantly, belying the slight crinkle at the corner of his eyes.

The rest of the meal proceeded as normal, Simon and Tori trying to out-snark each other with a constant dialogue, Derek out-ate all of us put together, he even tried one of my veggie dogs and said it tasted like tofu and plastic—gotta love him—and Kit entertained us all with shadow-puppets that Tori rolled her eyes at but ended up laughing with the rest of us.

Derek and I waited until things wound down before sneaking off into the woods (sans the sneaking). We'd done this enough to have a routine; we'd walk through really dense forest with Derek leading until we found a clearing where he couldn't smell or hear anyone, then Derek would strip and wrap a towel around his waist (we'd gone through about five pairs of boxers before figuring that one out), then he'd change and catch his breath, lead me somewhere safe, and take off. The last part was what he had the most trouble with, he didn't like leaving me behind _especially_ when in wolf-form because that protective instinct was even stronger than usual, and that was saying something.

I definitely felt more secure with Derek around, in human-form not only was he built like a tall Bruce Lee but could do just as much damage with his added benefits of supernatural strength. Considering that a great dane was 160 pounds on average and the biggest wolf on record was 175 pounds, I felt equally safe with Derek in wolf-form. Weighing in at over 200 pounds he was roughly the size of a pony but when I told him that he'd been… less than thrilled.

Derek led us to a clearing near our rock from the afternoon, following a trail he'd found earlier. It was smaller than I liked but both of us fit and there was a little extra space for flailing room. I turned to give him privacy to strip but changed my mind after a brief pause. I turned back as he was pulling off his shirt and wrapped my arms around his neck so the instant the shirt was completely off I could kiss him. And kiss him I did, pulling him down to me and kissing him hard enough to make him gasp in surprise and when he did I took the opportunity to brush the inside of his mouth with my tongue. He tasted like home and like something that made me feel like I had liquid fire deep in my stomach.

That consuming burning was what made me understand what Derek had been trying to explain earlier. It was like Elena said, being with your real mate was like a drug, and that fire was spreading and getting further and further out of my control with each little step we took into deeper intimacy. I didn't want to stop and as he held me as tightly to him as he dared, lifting me completely off the ground, I never wanted to stop.

I bit his lip and even as he moaned in pleasure that little bit of pain brought him back to himself and he put me down quickly, stumbling away until his back hit a tree and he couldn't retreat further. He didn't need to run from me, I had already fallen back to the opposite side of the clearing as fast as I could.

We stared at each other and even in the dark I could see the mirrored expression of mingled terror and desire on his face that I knew was on mine. I had to close my eyes and look away, seeing Derek as lost in me as I was in him just made it harder to stay on my side of the clearing and I had to grab onto the tree behind me to stay rooted to the spot.

I tried not to listen to his ragged breathing or feel the heat of his power, flooding the scant six feet of space that separated us. I focused on calming my own shuddering body and admired Derek for not only recognizing how dangerous it was for us to get out of control but for staying in control with his heightened senses for as long as he had. With the slight touch of his power that I got from our bond I could still hear his breathing, taste nothing but him and if I opened my eyes I would see his glowing across from me. It must have been ten times worse for him.

"I-I'm s-sorry." I managed to say. I felt him move towards me and shook my head. "N-Not yet." I still didn't trust myself. I'd always thought that this was one thing I could control, that if I wanted to go slow then that's what I would do. Now I realized that I'd been fooling myself, this wasn't just a drug, it was already an addiction. I let out another slow breath and a shaky laugh. "As if our lives weren't complicated enough."

Derek's low chuckle started my heart pounding again, but this time I felt like it was closer to a normal reaction and opened my eyes. He was sitting against his tree, eyes closed and knees drawn up, exactly how he had been sitting when he'd backed up on the rock that afternoon. I looked him over and felt the same shiver I always felt when I looked at him. I decided it was safe to be near him again and crawled across the short distance separating us, sitting next to him but making sure no part of us was touching, just in case. When he didn't back away I tentatively reached for his hand and he opened his eyes to lace our fingers together.

"Back to hand-holding huh?" I asked with an attempt at a smile.

He met my eyes and even that sent a thrill through me. "Not necessarily." But when he tilted my face up I shook my head and pulled back gently.

"Sorry. I… I don't trust myself yet."I had to speak slowly to keep my stutter in check but nothing could stop the blushing, I was still more flustered than I'd thought.

He pressed his lips to my forehead instead and my heart jumped but I didn't pull away or jump on him, a good sign.

"You should change." I looked up at him. "I think it'd be safer right now if you had a muzzle and fur."

I got a real laugh at that and seeing his smile, that combination of the slightly sharper teeth that all werewolves seem to have—a predatory smile—and his biological father's gentle crooked smile, made me feel warm in a completely different way.

Another thing that Derek had inherited from Jeremy (the alpha wolf of The Pack and his father by blood) was that Jeremy could shift faster than anyone else in the pack. He said it had something to do with his mother's genes, being a Japanese Kitsune (which was like a fox demon or spirit or something). Jeremy had a collection of unusual powers from his mother but Derek only inherited a few of those. Like Jeremy once he got the hang of it he could shift quickly between forms and also like Jeremy he had shown some signs of being able to just shift part of his body, like giving his hand claws or changing one paw into something more like a hand. It was definitely a little weird to watch but no stranger than bringing a forest of dead animals back to life so I didn't complain. I was just grateful that the only thing that the Edison Group had changed when messing around with Derek's genes was making his bite non-infectious.

I turned away and tried to ignore the sounds of clothes being removed, waiting for another couple seconds after Derek said he was decent to make sure I was in control. When I turned he was in his terminator position, taking deep breaths and I sat beside him, facing the above-the-towel area and put my arm around his waist.

"It won't hurt for long." I murmured, rubbing his shoulders. We'd talked about it and what helped the most was reminding him that it was quick and that he'd done it before. "You're body is supposed to do this. Just breathe." I let go of his waist as the bones in his body started cracking and scooted forward, pressing the side of his face against my chest, doing my best to ignore his joints breaking and realigning as the vibrations shook my body. "Breathe with me."

I inhaled deeply and exhaled, exaggerating my breathing until he matched me, breath for breath as his arms grew longer and his elongated head dropped further down in between his shoulders. A drawn-out gurgle of pain accompanied the last violent spasm and the last minute changes; ears getting longer and breaking noises as the last of his ribs snapped into place. With a shudder he slid to his belly, panting and resting his head on his forepaws with his eyes closed.

I lay down on my side facing him and rubbed behind his ears. After a minute he raised his head and licked my cheek before pushing to his feet and stretching.

"Blegh!" I scrubbed at the cheek and got a full face lick for my trouble.

Derek stood over me and nuzzled and snuffed my neck and hair, putting his nose in my ear and nudging me until I was breathless from laughing. It hadn't taken him long to find all of my ticklish spots and with the additional tickling power of the fur and wet nose I had a major disadvantage.

"Stop!" I managed to gasp. "Or I will never play fetch with you again!" That just earned me more tickling until I admitted defeat. "Crackers! For god's sake crackers!"

I'd designated a safety word early on when I'd still been full of stitches and more annoyingly fragile than usual. I used it more with Simon than Derek but it did come in handy every now and then. He stepped back and gave me a smug look, having emerged the victor once again.

I pushed up to my feet and considered giving him a swift kick to the tail but decided against it. Derek was gentle but he still had a bite significantly stronger than most wolves and they measured in at over 1000 pounds of pressure per square inch on average, beating the bazeejus out of my measly human bite of 150.

I'd been doing lots of wolf-related research in the past few months, in case you couldn't tell.

Derek escorted me back to the campsite, which took over half an hour since he had to stop and sniff at every little thing and froze at the slightest noise. When the campfire finally came into view I sighed in relief, I was tired and had some serious emotional drama to sort out—which would be easiest to do without Derek around.

I stopped walking at the edge of the trees and made Derek look at me.

"You'll come get me before you change back right?" I barely had to lean to look him in the eye.

He snorted and rolled his eyes but eventually dipped his head in an awkward nod.

"Good. I'll wait by the campfire." I kissed the top of his head and went back to the campsite, feeling him wait until I was in the firelight before taking off.

"Hey Chloe!" Simon waved enthusiastically. "Is Derek doing his furry thing?"

I smiled and dropped into a camp chair, gratefully accepting a water bottle from Kit. "Yup. Tonight, no chipmunk is safe."

That got a laugh from everyone. It was nice to know Derek was doing his equivalent of playing, he was always so serious and I think being a wolf gave him an excuse for some much-needed silly time.

"We were planning on hitting the hay soon, but one of us can stay up with you if that'd make you more comfortable." Kit offered and Simon nodded while Tori looked at him incredulously. I got the feeling that if one of them was going to volunteer to keep my company it would not be her.

Derek would be way happier if I had someone with me, but that was just his natural over-protective instincts getting the better of him again. "Nah, you guys doze, I'm going to take advantage of Derek's absence and do some math homework."

"Isn't he like a math whiz?" Tori asked, clearly in her opinion I should be taking full advantage of my boyfriend's resources.

"Yes, which means that he can't help but annoy the crap out of me while I work. I'll have him go over it when I'm done."

Tori shrugged and Simon looked confused, like my decision to not just have Derek do the work for me flummoxed him completely. Kit just smiled; He knew Derek well enough to know that any perfect girlfriend of his would do her own legwork.

"Night guys." I waved them off and pulled my math book out of my backpack, getting ready to do battle. "Okay Algebra 2 prepare to meet your maker."

I chewed on the end of my pencil, the first few equations had two sets of marks, the lighter—and I'll admit curvier—numbers and letters were mine and the heavier precise writing was Derek's. Mine was lighter because I'd had to erase and rewrite so much but erasers ran away screaming when confronted with Derek's work. The hardest part for him was _not_ doing the math in his head and trying to break it down step-by-step for me.

I sighed and was erasing another number when a twig behind me snapped. I jumped, swinging my flashlight beam into the woods behind me. I didn't see anything but I knew from experience that just because I couldn't see it didn't mean nothing was there. The coals in the fire had burned down further than I realized and Tori and the guys were sleeping soundly.

"Derek?" I whispered, not wanting to wake the others.

I stood, running the flashlight over the trees more slowly, still nothing in sight. I took half a step away from the campfire and stopped. If it was Derek then there was no way he would make me wander into the dark woods to find him and he would yell at me if I was dumb enough to go in alone. I wasn't.

I sat back down and when the next sound, a whine and a snuffle, came from the woods I sent a searching tendril of my power out to make sure it wasn't a zombie. I hadn't accidentally raised the dead in awhile but the rush of what felt like power that I'd gotten when kissing Derek made me pause. As hot as that had been though, I was pretty darn sure it hadn't been a necromantic rush I'd been feeling.

Luckily when I cast my power out I felt nothing except a few minor blips on my dead-dar, small rodents or birds at most and none of which had the uncomfortable twinge that I got when I felt a corpse with a soul in it.

This time when the noises started I was just annoyed. I turned and glared into the darkness behind me. "Shut up! Christ, math is hard enough without creepy woodsy noises. I'm not going in there so just can it okay?" I hissed this in a low whisper and turned back to the fire, getting ready to shift the chair so I'd be sideways and have at least a peripheral view of the spooky woods.

An exasperated sigh behind me made me freeze as the hair on my neck stood up. Before I could freak out a cloth was clamped to my mouth and nose and I was overwhelmed with the burning fumes of alcohol with an odd sweet edge.

"I miss the good old days when blonds were gullible." Someone drawled in my ear.

I screamed against the cloth and flailed, scratching and elbowing behind me and getting a few grunts of pain for my trouble. I wanted to not only make a witty retort but hand this guy's ass to him on a platter as my vision blurred and the sounds around us distorted.

This guy was strong, werewolf strong and even as I started getting tunnel-vision I realized that I couldn't outwrestle him. But I did have backup. I kept trying to make the loudest sounds I could, thrashing around and kicking the cooler and knocking over camp chairs.

"Whas goin on?" I heard Simon's sleepy voice and felt a ray of hope.

"Damn you are a handful." Came that same drawl but this time with a hard growled edge. I was jerked up and out of my chair and I twisted just enough to see my attacker's profile before blacking out.

Liam.


	6. Chapter 6

All right, not gonna lie, it was like Christmas morning when I saw how many of you had reviewed! I was beginning to think alot of you guys had forgotten about me... *cue Charlie Brown music* Moving on, here is a long chapter, more to come soon!

Kestrel, Rawr, D&C4Ever, Mrs. Fiction, Black Heart, Lee-Lee, Silver Bird, Kayanne, Cece and Twilight Dream- Awesome to see you guys reviewing! It really made me super excited that I could provide some Chlerek crack for those in need!

Suria, Mimi, Anya, Loraine and Jennia- I just needed some chill time so I wouldn't get burned out, I really hope you guys have as much fun reading the sequel as I'm having writing it!

Rikku- Okay, I'm not gonna lie, that description of Derek's little hissy fits when Chloe gets kidnapped was freakin hilarious! "... your limbs removed one by one and your eyeballs popped out and thrown in the Artic Ocean while you head is place din Antartica amongst a sea of hungry penguins."

DofD- Welcome to the fold new reader! I'm glad you found and enjoy my stories!

Mel Kitty and Suzi- I think you'll really like the first part of this chapter!

*Just one more thing before you get into it, Liam is NOT supposed to reinforce any preexisting stereotypes about the south. He is his own character and-being Texan born and bred m'self-does not represent all Texans.

* * *

_All right squirrel. You won't outrun me this time._ I crouched, ears flattened as if that would help hide me behind the too-small log. I'd made it back to the clearing where my clothes were stashed, I had no intention of waking Chloe up so she could trudge all the way back here just so I could get dressed.

My prey was nervous, it could sense a predator nearby but was too absorbed in digging out a nut or something similar from under a bush to devote its whole attention to me. _Big mistake_. I rolled my shoulders, getting ready to pounce, when a wave of dizziness swept over me and I stumbled, sending the squirrel flying. _What the hell?_ I tried to shake off the queasy disorienting feeling and nearly lost consciousness. Clearly the squirrel's defenses were better than I thought.

I snorted against that ridiculous conclusion and tried to focus. I talked to someone recently who mentioned feeling like this… who was it? What happened?

I lay down and closed my eyes, waiting for it to pass. As the feeling started fading a general sense of unease clenched me and I placed where I'd heard about sudden dizziness and disorientation in relation to werewolves.

Elena, she had fainted when Clay was attacked and drugged. The relief I felt at figuring out what was going on was short lived as that thought fully sank in. She'd fainted because Clay was drugged, because her mate was attacked.

_Chloe._

I felt a familiar burn flaming through my veins and remembered the last time Chloe had been taken from me and what had happened.

_Shitshitshit!_ I managed to get into the clearing before my spine snapped back and forced a long eerie howl from me. This had happened last time right before-

My limbs went rigid as it felt like a hand was shoved down my throat, passed through my whole body until it reached my tail and ripped everything backwards through my mouth, like turning a pillowcase inside-out. My organs didn't end up on the outside and the grabbing and ripping feeling was just adrenaline rushing the change but it was easily the second most painful thing that my body had ever gone through, second only to the first time this had happened.

I fell forward, barely able to catch myself on human hands and knees as I hacked up blood. My body did not appreciate the strain, compressing a three to five minute process into ten seconds or less caused a lot of collateral damage.

Once I felt that my lungs were clear I reached to grab my shorts, only to discover that three limbs were not enough to hold my weight just yet, and slid into the puddle of still-warm blood. I didn't have enough human rationality to care and jerked on my shorts—even with so little conscious thought I recognized that fighting someone in human form naked would be unwise, too vulnerable in an already vulnerable form.

As I pushed myself to my feet on shaky limbs I heard it, an answer to my desperate panicked howl. Two howls in very different pitches, one female. My confusion grew as I made sense of that, there weren't wolves indigenous to New York state anymore and the only mature female werewolf in existence was Elena so they had to be pack wolves, but why were they here? Were they the ones who had drugged Chloe?

I pushed back the human trying to rationalize the situation and immersed myself in the wolf, who only cared about finding his mate. With that single driven goal I let the adrenaline take hold and ran, following the slight pressure on my awareness that was Chloe.

* * *

I woke up for the second time in so many months in Liam's tender care. This time I had been gagged but on the bright side my wrists weren't tied to a barn's roof, nope, they were just tied behind me. Where had I seen this set up before?

_Oh yeah. Just in every movie ever where the villain took the girl hostage you unimaginative, unoriginal, sociopathic prick!_ I glared at Liam as the last of the haziness cleared from my mind. The cloth in my mouth kept me from saying all this to him but apparently my eyes did a pretty good job of conveying the message. _Come up with a new routine asshole, the audience is officially bored._

He chuckled and it sent an awful chill down my spine, very different from Derek's chuckle which never failed to make my knees weak. If my knees were weak now it was just because Liam creeped me out.

"You are a little firecracker Miz. Saunders."

Getting monologue'd by that Texan accent was really starting to grate on my nerves. I tried to block out his voice but stilled when I saw that his face was somehow… misshapen. Like he'd had his nose and both cheekbones broken, he seemed to be missing some teeth too. Derek's handiwork. _What happened to your face Liam?_ I thought smugly. _Looks like a more powerful werewolf than you smashed it into the floor. Oh wait._

"Don't you worry your pretty little head." He crouched and ran his fingers through my hair, catching it in his fist and jerking my face up inches from his and the smug feeling vanished. "And it _is_ pretty." I felt a traitorous curl of fear, remembering all of the other times he'd attacked us and said things like _I say we stab her_ and _I like them young_.

He laughed, watching the fear in my eyes. I pushed down that fear and focused on how annoying Liam was, following us around, kidnapping me, using me as bait. _B o r i n g._ I looked up at him and thought about how insignificant of a role he played in the plot of my life. He was nothing more than a nuisance, a toady, just another henchman. His name wouldn't even make it into the credits.

His expression hardened as he saw the shift in my demeanor, fear replaced with cool dismissal. _You're nothing, a nobody._ I told my eyes to say, and he saw that.

"Don't you give me that look little lady. I only need you as collateral but if you piss me off…" He pulled me to my feet and swung me around.

It took my eyes a minute to adjust, at first I thought I was just seeing the sky, then I looked down. We were at the top of the cliffs that I'd forbade Derek from jumping off. Looking down at the rocky outcroppings and the long, long, long drop down to the only tiny spot of water that didn't have boulders jutting out of it I was glad I'd forbidden him. Even for a werewolf it was an extremely dangerous jump. If I made it out of this alive I was going to yell at Derek some more for even considering it.

"See, you're the only chance I got at a… get out of jail free card." He set me back down a few feet from the cliff's edge. "Turns out that The Pack didn't like werewolves being involved with that electric company."

It took me a second to sort out what he meant, then I rolled my eyes. _Edison Group you moron._

"So now I got Elena chasing after me, which I really wouldn't mind. Elena's the only bitch we weres got. Everybody wants a piece of that tail. Only drawback is she's a sadistic bitch, takes after her mate there, and seems like she's gotten a little protective streak going since popping out those pups of hers." He rolled his eyes as if a mother being protective of her children was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. He kneeled down, putting his arm around my shoulders like we were buddies and he was sharing privileged information with me. I wrinkled my nose in distaste at his proximity and his mockery of my friend. "She's got these lists ya see, one for the people she'd kill for and one for the people she wants to kill. That first list is real, real short. Used to just be pack with the Danvers's right at the top." He meant Jeremy and Clay, Clay was Jeremy's foster son the way Derek was Kit's. "But now we've got a wildcard in the mix. Seems like the alpha had a little more fun in his… middle age, than we mutts thought."

_Derek._ I felt a cold weight drop in my gut.

"And since we can't get near the alpha without dealing with that sociopath Clayton, challenging the alpha's only blood son is almost as good." He shot me a nasty smile. "Killing a high-ranking Pack wolf does wonders for your reputation."

He paused as if hearing something then shook it off. "Well… then it turns out that not only does the alpha have a son, but that son has a mate. Other than Elena and Clay, these two are the only _real_ mated pair in existence." He grinned at me and fluttered his eyelashes, putting an ugly sing-song twist to his mocking next words. "_Soul mates._" He made a show of sniffing my neck and widened that dark predatory grin. "You sure don't smell like any _mates_ I've ever met."

The last time I'd been kidnapped by Liam there'd been another werewolf involved, one who said he could smell that I was a virgin. Clearly in Liam's book Derek and I wouldn't be mates until we took that last step. I fought to keep the angry flush off my face and failed.

"What's the matter sweet thing? Do you need a real man to get you started?" He gave me a look that made me want to gag.

I snorted and returned his look with a mocking stare of my own. Another thing I'd learned when I'd been kidnapped was that the woman who was supposed to seduce Derek had been Liam's lover and had volunteered for the job specifically because she thought that Derek could 'scratch the itch' that Liam hadn't.

I didn't care what Liam thought about mates or Derek or Elena or any of the others. The only thing I wanted was for him to keep talking until I figured out how to get out of this mess. That's the beautiful thing about villainous characters, they're vain and predictable. _That's it, just keep monologuing you piece of crap._ I thought while running through possible escape routes. There was pretty much two options, through Liam or over the cliff. I kept thinking.

"Those big ole eyes of yours keep getting me off-topic you little vixen." He winked and ran a finger down my cheek, tracing the scar from the street urchin. "And it looks like you can take a lot of damage without breaking." Without warning he snapped the strap on my sundress to get a clear look at the spattering of scars on my chest and shoulder. Derek had done the same that very afternoon but Derek had been gentle, hadn't ripped it and didn't push the top of my dress down far enough to expose my bra.

Liam let out a low whistle. "Would you look at that lacey thing."

As soon as I'd grown to fit in a real cup size (Literally A… Tori wherever you are… shut up.) I'd gone on a shopping spree, the rich girl in me squealing for joy that I could finally get expensive big-girl underwear. Now I was regretting that decision. I'd intentionally worn a cute bra because… well I thought that Derek might see it. Luckily I wasn't bold enough to wear anything see-through or in a sexy color like black or red, but even the white lace was meant for Derek's eyes only.

Liam pulled my dress down so half of the bra was exposed and as hard as I tried to ignore him I felt tears of humiliation and terror prick at the back of my eyes. But before they had even spilled over that humiliation and terror turned into something much more useful, rage. In that moment I HATED Liam.

He stood, leaving me partially undressed and I glared up at him. He smiled. "You've got fire in your eyes darlin. I like that. Now you stop distracting me like that… where was I? Hmm…" He snapped his fingers. "Right. I was just about to tell you why you've been causing me so much trouble. Back to the story now, Elena heard about that little fiasco in the barn and she was _pissed_. She'd sent out some kind of message the night before about how you weren't supposed to be messed with under penalty of Clayton because she likes you. Unlucky for us, we didn't get that message before I sent my little friend to pick you up."

I fought a shudder remembering his _little friend_, the werewolf who was mutated from eating human flesh.

"Elena didn't like that. She'd already declared weres working for that lab place were as good as dead. They've all been taken care of, she saved me for last since I 'tormented' you and your boyfriend the most." He rolled his eyes again, like calling attacking and kidnapping torment was being dramatic. "And she's on my tail, her and that stuck-up no-good Marsten. So I thought, well if they want to kill me for just kidnapping you, what would they give to save you?" He paused, waiting for me to appreciate the genius of his plan.

It was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard. He got a death sentence for kidnapping me so he thought kidnapping me _again_ would nullify it?

"But for them to save you, you obviously have to be in real danger. Lucky for me your boy called Elena and Marsten straight to him and away from us so I had enough time to get you up here."

My mind raced. If Liam, who was an idiot, could figure out that holding me hostage could get him what he wanted from The Pack, who else would? It seemed that the werewolf population at large knew that Derek was Jeremy's son now and that made him someone they could hurt The Pack through and since he would do anything to get me back that made me the perfect hostage. I wasn't even a werewolf, I was helpless and weak to them.

The only option was to eliminate the weakest link. As long as I was seen as a victim then they would treat me like one.

I closed my eyes and leaned forward like I was sobbing into my skirt or too weak to keep myself straight. Liam laughed, I summoned. I shoved my power out like I had on The Pack's land, but then I'd been careless and just called everything I could. This time I searched, I searched and every time I felt a large corpse, I raised it. No voles or mice or squirrels this time. This time I summoned the biggest animals around.

I felt the ground shake as I pulled the corpses up and Liam cursed but I didn't open my eyes. There were more large animals in this area than I realized and I reanimated a dozen of them before I stopped raising and started calling them to me.

The ground stopped shaking and I opened my eyes.

"What the hell was that?" Liam looked around and finally his gaze lit on me, sitting up again, completely calm. Before he could say anything else there was a crack in the woods and he spun around.

I smiled as best I could with the gag in my mouth. _Time to get a taste of your own medicine._

There were more cracks and some shuffling through the brush.

"They sure got here fast. Looks like this is our time to shine darlin." Liam pulled me to my feet and took a step away from the ledge. "All right Elena! She's here and she's fine but there's only one way she's going to stay that way!"

No one answered. No one could, none of them had any vocal chords. I looked up at Liam and felt a grim satisfaction seeing the sheen of sweat on his forehead.

"I'm not messing around! You come out here now, you and Marsten and the pup. Show yourselves!" His voice sounded less sure now.

_You want to see them? Fine._ I focused and pulled, calling my creatures to me. The first one that I saw was just a mass of black fur, smaller than Derek.

"It's gonna be hard to make any deals with yall in yo-" He cut off as the thing ambled into view.

I saw then what I had raised and looking behind it I saw many more in various stages of decay. Bears.

The first did have black fur but no face, just teeth and eye sockets. Almost all the others were down to little more than bone and some sinew. I tried not to look surprised, from what I'd read there had to be at least some flesh to raise a zombie but apparently the rule didn't apply if you were the energizer bunny of necromancers. I felt a stab of guilt, these poor animals did not deserve this; but on the other hand the more horrific this was the less I would be perceived as a victim and the less I would have to do things like this in the future.

"What the hell?" Liam's voice cracked and he shot to the side, taking me with him, as a larger bear, one that was all skeleton, burst out of the woods on his right.

I ordered those nearest to cut off our access to the cliff. The first bear, the one with the most flesh, was the one who got there first, moving faster than I thought was possible. I told it to stay there and ordered the others to grab Liam. He ducked and screamed and cursed, keeping his vice grip on my arm. Pieces of bone flew as he kicked at them until finally he let go of me to fully defend himself.

I ordered them onto him with everything I had and they attacked, forcing him to back up until he hit a tree. I mentally commanded one to bite his ankle while I struggled to get my gag out. The bear I'd ordered bit, jaw hinging open as wide as a snake's so that its fangs sank through the flesh of Liam's leg and into the bark of the tree behind him, the incisors and canines sinking deep into the tree on either side. Seeing him unable to rip his foot free gave me an idea. I ordered another to mimic the first on his other ankle, then the largest to stand, striking one paw—now reduced to only claws and bone—into the tree on one side of Liam and then it's other on his opposite side so it's ribs locked him in place, piercing the flesh of his arms and torso as he flailed.

He really screamed then, an awful high-pitched scream as panic gripped him. The more he struggled the more bones pierced his flesh; I wanted to tell him to stop moving even as I layered another bear onto one of his arms. As he pulled and scratched uselessly against the skeletons trapping him he did more damage to himself than to them, the point had been to trap him and hurt him minimally but he was making that impossible and if I released now that frenzied energy would focus on me. His werewolf strength meant nothing because whenever he grabbed any bone it splintered in his hands. I ordered bear corpse after bear corpse to wrap around him, creating my own cage of ribs, claws and teeth and trying to immobilize him so he would stop hurting himself. Finally his struggling subsided as his screams turned into whimpers.

I got the gag down over my chin and smirked at him, pushing away the revulsion I felt as Liam broke pieces off of my zombies and skeletons, I had to make this good—I reminded myself—or they wouldn't stop coming after me and Derek.

"Having fun?" I stepped to the side so he could see me and waved. "They seem to really like you." I smiled coldly as his wild eyes turned on me.

"You! You're a fucking freak!" He shrieked.

"You betcha. And this." I gestured to the zombies. "This is nothing. Take a good long look at them Liam because when you die, I'm going to do the same to you. Drag what little soul you have back into your decaying corpse over and over." My stomach actually heaved that time, I could never follow through, would never do that to anyone, not even Liam. But he didn't know that.

I walked over to him, staying out of reach. "You remember what Clay did?"

He froze, then nodded jerkily.

Before Jeremy became Alpha there was a constant flow of rogue werewolves coming onto their territory to challenge him and his infamous father Malcolm. Clay had captured two of these challengers and chopped one up with a chainsaw, cauterizing the wounds as he went so he kept it alive. It was a sadistically brilliant tactical move, then he'd brought the other werewolf in and showed him that his friend was still alive under all that blood and gore. He'd given him Polaroid's and told the rogue to tell all of his friends what he was willing to do to trespassers. According to legend, no mutt had ever come to Stonehaven to challenge him or Jeremy since. No rogue werewolf had come on Pack territory at all after that.

"Clay kept that mutt alive. But I don't have to. I can kill you and bring you back as many times as I want." At this point I was just telling myself that this was all a gruesome play and my character was an evil sadist, I told myself over and over that it was just a script, that it was just pretend. But it didn't stop the ever-increasing desire to vomit.

I stepped back and raised my chin, ready to release the bear's spirits but all Liam saw was his tormentor preparing to do something even worse and reacted on instinct. One of the few bears that I hadn't included in the cage of bone was crouched next to him, awaiting my order. He grabbed it, ripping his arm free, tearing through the muscle of his bicep and the muscles in his shoulder to throw it at me, putting all of his supernatural strength behind it and spraying the skeleton with his blood.

_Release!_ My panicked mind ordered automatically so even as it hit me, knocking me flying backwards the skeleton broke apart. Without any of my power holding the bones together the impact wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been; still I slammed backward into the partially decomposed zombie standing between me and deadly precipice and we both fell.


	7. Chapter 7

You guys are awesome! So many reviews! Anyway, I gotta go out but I wanted to post a chapter before I ran off again, leaving you with nothing but a cliff-hanger (or faller in this case). I'll do a long AN next chap. Pinky swear.

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I ran along the bank of the lake, following the pull of Chloe's energy. I'd felt it grow stronger, like she'd woken up or regained consciousness. I kept telling myself it would be okay as long as I could still feel her. I knew what it felt like when she was dead from past experience, like a vast nothingness where everything used to be, and I didn't feel that now. I held onto that thought, that she was alive, and ran.

I was getting closer, the pull of her was stronger, when two figures stepped into my path and I skidded to a halt. One was clearly a person, the other a wolf and once my one-track mind focused enough I recognized Elena and a strange wolf I didn't know. A long look at Elena's expression told me that she didn't have anything to do with what was happening to Chloe.

"What's going on? Why are you covered in blood?" Elena was so assertive and confident that it took me a second to process that she was naked, a fairly normal state for Pack werewolves but one that I was still not used to. Her only adornment was a lanyard with a slim cell phone clipped to it and it did little to cover her.

"Doesn't matter. It's just mine. We have to get to Chloe." Every word was a challenge, forming rational thought in general was a challenge.

"_Just _your blood? And what's wrong with Chloe?" She asked, sharper now.

"I don't know. I just got… how you felt when Clay was drugged." I tried to tell the wolf in me that teaming up with Elena and the other wolf was the safest surest way to get Chloe back safely but all it wanted to do was find her immediately.

"Shit. Liam. _That's_ why he came here. He's been tracking you." Elena ran a hand through her hair. "We've been tracking him for a few days now, can you tell where he has her?"

I shook my head. "Not precisely, just that way…" I trailed off as I followed my own pointed finger to see two figures at the top of the cliffs. One was much smaller and on their knees as the other paced slightly and gestured as if they were talking. I choked on Chloe's name even as I tried to shout it, my brain recognizing that the element of surprise was better and shutting down my vocal chords.

Elena pulled me back into the trees so we were in shadow, the strange wolf following silently. "Listen Derek. What we need to do is surprise him by coming from all angles. Do you think you could scale those cliffs?"

I squinted at them, pulling the angles and distances that I'd estimated from the afternoon. It would not be an easy climb but if I could sneak up behind Liam while Elena distracted him and grab Chloe it would be worth it.

I nodded.

"Okay. Karl and me will go around the long way but we should reach him in fifteen minutes or less." She didn't have to explain any further and I started racing along the lake's edge again, adrenaline still coursing through me.

I was at the path that led to the bottom of the cliffs in five minutes, easily jumping from boulder to boulder until I was nearly knocked off my feet by a huge wave of power, Chloe's power. I tried to stand straight and almost lost my balance again as the ground literally shook beneath my feet. It was impossible not to run then, Chloe didn't use her power unless absolutely necessary, I didn't want to think about what would force her to use that last resort. I'd started moving again, less than a quarter mile from where I'd seen Chloe and Liam when a high-pitched scream made me freeze, fear shooting through me again. But it wasn't Chloe, it was Liam.

That scream took the edge off of the adrenaline. Clearly something was freaking Liam out and I heard that scream as one long note of panic that died in a whimper. I was moving again when I heard Chloe's voice for the first time.

"Having fun?... They seem to really like you." Her voice was strange, pitched wrong and cold in a way that I'd never heard. Even when she'd told Davidoff she was going to kill him she'd sounded empty, not dark like this.

"You! You're a fucking freak!" He shrieked, covering the sounds of me wading to get to the boulders I needed to scale to even get close enough to start climbing.

"You betcha. And this… This is nothing. Take a good long look at them Liam because when you die, I'm going to do the same to you. Drag what little soul you have back into your decaying corpse over and over." I paused, shaking off the chill that hearing Chloe sound like that gave me. If I were in Liam's position I'd be scared too.

"You remember what Clay did?" There was a long silence that was punctuated only by the odd sounds of dry… _things_ clacking together. "Clay kept that mutt alive. But I don't have to. I can kill you and bring you back as many times as I want."

That didn't sound like Chloe at all, to the point where I stopped moving all together.

There was a terrible tearing and breaking sound, then two heavy thuds, one splintering as it hit and another that sounded wet, like a water balloon breaking. Something fell off the cliff.

At first I didn't react, seeing only a mass of what looked like fur and limbs, then I saw a slender figure in the middle of that and felt my heart stop. There was no way I could catch her, nothing I could do, but even as my brain froze my limbs flew into action, carrying me over the rocks that still separated me from where she was falling.

It was such a horrifyingly long fall that I could see her struggling throughout. Her hands were tied in front of her and she seemed tangled with the creature she'd fallen with. The angle was wrong, I could tell it was wrong, that she wasn't going to land where she needed to in the water but I kept moving forward, just trying to get there.

There was a wet crack as she hit, slamming into the boulders and a huge splash. I think my heart stopped. Then I didn't think anymore, I just dove.

Under the water was a horror scene. It was cloudy with blood and big chunks of flesh that I tried not to think about even as they brushed against me. Hard bits of bone weighted with gore scraped me as they sank and I searched frantically.

Finally I saw something, a pale arm. I grabbed and kicked for the surface, praying that the rest of her body was still attached to it. We broke through the gore and blood and fur and water and my heart started pounding again as she started struggling when we hit air.

"Chloe! It's me! It's okay!" I had to hold her shoulders and shake her before my words sank in.

"G-g-get me out!" She screamed, writhing away from every piece of flesh that touched her.

I felt a weird nudging and looked down to see a paw, claws retracting and extending over and over. The biggest parts were moving as much as they could towards Chloe. A section of spine, a foot, a chunk of skull. I kept hold of her arm and kicked hard, propelling us away and towards the bank.

As soon as we hit land Chloe staggered to her feet, twisting madly to get a chunk of fur off of her shoulder and when it fell, dropping to her knees and retching. I stumbled onto the bank behind her, whole body shaking from the aftereffects of the adrenaline and the relief that she was alive.

I dropped beside her, holding her slender shoulders as violent spasms rocked through her small frame. She kept throwing up until it was nothing but stomach acid and dry heaves and the shaking in her whole body was from heart-wrenching sobs. It was then that I noticed that her shoulder twisted at an odd angle, I felt the bottom of my stomach drop as I thought about pulling her from the water, pulling her arm. Then I saw the torn front of her dress, the arm I'd been holding had the strap still intact. Considering the situation as a whole, the relief I felt was minuscule on the larger scale of things.

"R-r-real-lease." She squeezed her eyes tightly and dug her fingers into the ground, I reached toward her hands to untie them but she shook her head vehemently. "Have t-t-to f-focus. _Release._" Her voice took on a hard edge as her whole body went rigid. "_RELEASE._"

I looked back into the lake behind us, all was still in the murky stain that had been god-only-knows what animal. The dry clicking and scraping on the cliff stopped too and the night was suddenly very still.

"Chloe..?" I hesitantly tugged her by her good shoulder and she turned towards me. The warmth I felt at seeing her safe chilled when I got a good long look at her. Her face was completely white, eyes unnaturally round as her breath came fast and shallow. She rocked slightly back and forth on her knees and I saw the extent of the damage to her dress; even catching and dislocating her arm wouldn't have ripped it that much or ripped it straight down. Every muscle in my body tensed with fury and I looked back at the ledge, praying Liam was alive so I could kill him.

"D-D-Derek?" She croaked, voice almost completely gone. Her eyes were unfocused as she looked at me as if seeing me for the first time. "I-I-I d-did s-someth-thing _horrible._" She turned away as her stomach heaved again but there was nothing left to throw up.

"I don't care." I rested my hand flat against her back and when she stopped convulsing I pulled her into my lap. "I don't care. I just want to fix this and get the hell out of here." I brushed a few strands of wet hair back from her face.

She turned slowly and met my eyes, I saw her find her strength again as her gaze focused sharply. "No." She clenched her jaw and looked back up at the cliff. "We're not leaving. Not yet. Help me up." She rocked forward before I could stop her. But shock had worn off enough for the pain to kick in and she whimpered, seeing the angle of her arm.

"C-can you-?" She didn't even have to finish asking before I'd snapped the ropes.

"Lay down baby. This is going to hurt." I spoke softly, mentally calculating the amount of force it would take to relocate the anterior dislocation without damaging her or the joint further. As a human it wouldn't be that bad, the extra damage I could inflict would be fixable, but as a werewolf I could rip tendons or break her arm. The collarbone was the most fragile and I took a deep breath, schooling my face to be blank.

I saw the pain in her eyes as she bit her lip. "J-just fix it."

I nodded, easier said than done but leaving it dislocated could cause even more long-term damage. The hardest thing to push away was the fear that I wouldn't be able to set it correctly, that the look of absolute trust in her eyes would fade. I wanted to be able to fix anything that went wrong, and I wanted her to keep giving me that look, so I set her on the sand and started to work.

I moved the forearm of her injured arm gently straight up at a ninety degree angle from her body and then rotated it down across her, keeping her elbow at her side and at the same angle. I held her upper arm still as I slowly and steadily rotated her arm in an arc, going the opposite direction. The joint should have relocated on its own, it didn't.

I kept my face still as I repeated the motion, keeping her shoulder still and elbow at the same angle, back across her body and then away. On the third try the joint popped back in, eliciting a small cry from Chloe who had been silent, biting her lip hard enough to bleed and sweating from the strain. I lay her arm back across her stomach, letting it rest.

"Well. That wasn't so hard." I smiled as well as I could and brushed sticky hair from her face and she laughed shakily, the way people near shock do.

She took a few deep breaths before trying to speak again. "C-can you help me to the water? I want to try to get this stuff off. Then we need to get back up there." Her voice got more confident as she spoke and she pushed up on her good arm.

"What exactly are we washing off? And no. Absolutely not. You are going back to the campsite."

"Bear. Or, I guess former bear." She stepped into the clear water away from where we'd come out, getting hip-deep before ducking under.

I waited, only able to see a vague outline of her scrubbing at her hair. When she resurfaced she was as clean as she was going to get, dress completely plastered to her body and white bra somewhat transparent from the water. I mentally kicked myself for ogling when there about a hundred really dangerous and important things to take care of. When she waded out I had to look away completely, the moonlight on her wet clothes and backlighting her silhouette really really _really _was not helping.

"We should head back." Chloe said softly.

"To the campsite."

"To the cliff."

"Campsite."

"_Derek._" She stepped close to me so I had to meet her determined gaze. "Derek. We have to go back. I-I left L-Liam." She rubbed her face with both hands, wincing as her sore shoulder protested.

"Do you really think I give a damn about what happens to Liam?" I asked, my voice as flat and cold as hers had been before the fall. The fact that I genuinely felt like that towards him—perfectly happy to leave him to his fate—scared me a little. I felt that we'd both lost a little of what remained of our naiveté.

"No. I don't think you care right now." She put her hand against my face and I sucked in a breath as her ice-cold fingers touched me. She dropped it quickly and I grabbed both of her hands just as fast, pressing them to my chest to warm them.

Her wrists were as cold, and her arms, and her shoulders, and I pulled her against me. "Chloe you're freezing." I was grateful to note that she had tucked the top of her dress up somehow; one less distraction as I tried to get her blood circulating. "We need to get you into dry clothes. Now."

"You don't understand." She whispered, and even her cheek and lips were cold as she spoke against my skin. "I have to go back up there. They… they see you as a way to hurt Jeremy. And they see me as a way to hurt you. I have to show them that I'm not a victim. The only way I know how to do that is with my power."

I stilled as she spoke, mind racing. They were targeting Chloe and me to hurt The Pack. It didn't matter who "they" were—though I assumed she meant rogue werewolves—the point was that as long as someone perceived us as prey someone would be hunting us like prey. Putting not only our lives at risk, but our family and friends.

"Clay had the right idea." She murmured.

"Clay is a hell of a lot more ruthless than you are Chloe." I stroked her hair and tilted her face up, eyes meeting mine.

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure of that Derek." Elena came out of the woods, still naked, still unconcerned. "Chloe seemed to know exactly what she had to do and was handling things fine up until Liam threw that skeleton and knocked her off the cliff." She gave Chloe a critical once-over. "Speaking of which, how are you alive?"

"The corpse I was falling with hit the boulder first and I glanced off it. But I dislocated my shoulder." She added as if not sure that the falling-with-corpse-into-boulder story was exciting enough.

"Ah. Of course. Corpse airbags, gotta invest in that." Elena said just as non-chalantly.

"Except they're not filled with _air._" I muttured, earning a shudder from Chloe and a nose-wrinkle from Elena.

"Anyway. I came down to ask what you wanted to do about Liam?" She was looking at Chloe when she spoke and the girl in question pulled gently out of my arms to face her. "We tried pulling the bones out but they just splinter and rip apart whatever part of him they're pinning."

I stared down at Chloe, my too-nice, soft-hearted, delicate and gentle mate and felt a chill run down my spine. I wasn't afraid of her, I couldn't be, but what she could do if she wanted to and what she had done because Liam made her feel cornered… Well, it was easy to forget how truly powerful she had the capacity to be.

"He's been fading in and out of consciousness and is out for now. But we do need to make a decision fast." Elena continued.

Chloe paled. "D-decision?"

"We came here to kill him Chloe. It's Pack law, he betrayed us and worked as muscle for hire with a Cabal. The Pack isn't big on the Cabal's knowing too much about our kind." Elena fixed her with a look, blue eyes level. "Either way, he dies tonight. You can finish what you started or we can finish what we came here to do."

Chloe looked like she was going to be sick again for a moment, then she straightened. "I-I'll need my c-camera bag. It's at the camp."

Elena nodded. "I'll send Karl, we left our car near your campsite when we realized you were here and he's been itching to get back into his Armani suit." She rolled her eyes. "It shouldn't take more than fifteen or twenty minutes to get-" She broke off abruptly, eyes narrowing at Chloe's dress. "Which arm did you dislocate?"

When Chloe waved her other arm, the one with the strap intact, Elena growled. It took both of us by surprise; Clay was usually the one to act more like a wolf. Without a word she strode forward and ripped a hole through the dress, growling again when I moved to get her off and I paused. I knew Elena wouldn't hurt Chloe and she was the Alpha Select, the designated Pack wolf to take Jeremy's place when he decided to step down—or was killed, but I liked the retirement option better. I stayed put.

As though she had done this many times, and she probably had, she weaved and tied the strap down, repairing the dress as best she could. Her eyes had a steely glow that made me think that somehow Liam had made this a lot more personal to her by sexually assaulting Chloe. Between the three of us, the triggering full-grown Pack Alpha candidate, the genetically-enhanced necromancer who had been assaulted or her genetically-enhanced mate who was a _little_ displeased with that assault; it looked like no matter what person he faced, Liam was not going to have an easy out.

"That should do until we get you changed. Come on, we'll relieve Karl and decide the best… end."

"It has to be me." Chloe whispered. "It has too, I have to prove that I'm willing to follow through with my threat or they'll still come."

_And you'll have to do this over and over again._ I thought, jaw tightening with reluctant agreement. She was right, something would have to be done. But if she thought I would stand by and let her shoulder this alone she was about to be proven very wrong.


	8. Chapter 8

Lilly, Mrs Fiction, Black Heart, Horses and Vamps- I actually think that-given the timeline of like a week-KA's Chloe is pretty badass, she adjusts really quickly and is sharp as a tack, I'd like to think that she would have become a little more assertive given time to adjust to everything.

Suria, Seiya's Girl, Suzi, and Anastasia- I wrote the chapter about Liam's death last night and it's pretty gruesome, bordering M-rating but probably no worse then the scene in The Reckoning with the guards body and all those demons...

DofD- Liam tore his own arm ripping it free from the bear's bone that was pinning it.

Winkadink, D&C4Ever, Fee-Fee, Rosie, Mrs. DS13, Lightest Ink, Kestrel, and Chlerek4E- You guys are awesome, I'll get you more fluff soon!

Silver Bird- Oh my god I cracked up reading your review. That is my new death-threat-of-the-week "I will beat you to death with Justin Bieber!" Two birds with one stone!

Rikku, Ange3, and Riley- I'm insanely flattered by you guys, really, I can't begin to measure up to KA but I hope I can continue to provide you guys with a Chloe (and of course Derek) fix!

Boat Gal- I wrote this chapter before your review about Chloe being techie so that made me laugh.

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I stopped a few feet before we broke the tree cover, grabbing Derek's arm to make him stop too. Liam was facing away from the forest when I'd pinned him so we still couldn't see him. I wanted to prepare Derek somehow, to explain or to justify myself, but when I looked up at him his gaze was fixed to the tree, nostrils flared. Since even I could smell the coppery tang of blood in the air, mixed with the subtler scent of old corpses, he would be able to tell that I'd hurt Liam fatally.

I dropped my hand quickly and grabbed my other arm, trying to rub away the goosebumps.

Before I could even properly feel sorry for myself, a rough hand wrapped around the nape of my neck and Derek pushed my chin up with his thumb. It was a familiar gesture and brought some warmth back into me as I met his worried green eyes. I wanted to throw myself in his arms and sob until I was forty but I forced a smile… that he didn't buy for a minute.

"Okay, Karl is going to run back and get the car and your camera bag Chloe, I'll leave you two here while I call Jeremy and update him. Karl should be back in less than fifteen minutes, there's a small service road that comes within a hundred yards from here." Elena squeezed my shoulder and I hugged her, not caring that she was naked. "Christ! You're freezing, there's a blanket in the car." She smiled and tucked an errant strand of hair behind my ear. "How about when this is over we grab one of those cabins instead of sleeping outside?"

I felt the weariness, not just in my body, but in my heart. The lines between good and evil were constantly changing in my life, it was easier before I started seeing ghosts and everything was black and white. Now nothing was, everything was shaded gray some way or another.

I realized I hadn't answered Elena and nodded. "That sounds like a really good idea."

She smiled, clearly less fazed by this whole torturing-and-killing-Liam thing than I was. "Okay then. I'll be back."

I slumped as soon as she was gone, falling straight against a solid bare torso. I stayed there, leaning against Derek for support and letting my head rest against his chest when he wrapped his arms around me. He was the pillar of strength in my shifting reality. It was funny, because even though I'd grown up in a more stable home-environment, I was acutely jealous of Derek for his family. The boy with no biological father or mother for seventeen years, who had spent his first five years of life in a laboratory with three other boys who shunned him, who grew up on the run and dealt everyday with conflicting dominant personalities in his head, and I was jealous of him.

I turned in the circle of his arms, wrapping mine around his waist and hiding my face in the alcove of his shoulder and chest, feeling his heart against my lips. The jealousy was in no way malicious, I wanted him to be happy because I loved him. It was just sometimes hard, without mom or Aunt Lauren alive Jaime and Elena had somehow started creeping into those places in my heart that ached for a maternal figure.

Jaime Vegas could be a ditz and sometimes the shallowness of Hollywood stuck with her but she had a good heart. She was a loving person who spoiled me rotten whenever she came to New York—which was more and more often with her increasingly serious relationship with Jeremy. Jaime was also a necromancer and was training me as best she could. Which usually meant is that she would bring her grandmother's old grimoires when she came to visit and I would study the books on my own, with her enforcing strict snack and shopping breaks.

Elena on the other hand was fiercely loyal and dangerous to the point of being cold and calculating when it came to protecting her family. She was witty, beautiful and one of the best mother's I'd ever met. After some time to adjust to the idea of her extremely logical self-controlled Alpha/father figure having an illegitimate son Elena had welcomed Derek into The Pack. As Liam had said, Derek and I were the second "real" mates in at least two hundred years, Clay and Elena being the first. That gave me a bond with Elena, the depth of which I hadn't really realized.

"This is not how I envisioned the night going." I mumbled, inadvertently getting a taste of the saltiness of Derek's chest on my lips. I focused on that, trying to lose myself by burying every sense in Derek. The taste of his skin, the sound of his heart and the subtle earthy masculine smell of him—all so familiar and all defining the only real home I had left.

"How did you see it going?" He asked and I closed my eyes to listen to the vibration of his voice deep in his chest. Home.

"Mmm… I don't know. You come back, we go and get your clothes, possibly some heavy petting in the clearing…"

"Pre or post change?"

I frowned. "Is that a trick question?"

"Well you said heavy _petting._" He leaned back and I looked up at him with an exasperated sigh that had the hint of laugh in it, it was a weak joke but I appreciated the attempt. He gave me a minute, letting me try to get my brain in gear before asking; "What do you plan on doing exactly?"

I sighed, this time without the humor. "The original plan was to scare the hell out of him and set him loose, using the same principal as Clay used."

"Let him do the legwork of spreading the rumors." Derek stated, nodding. "Was it the kidnapping… again… that made you do… this?" He gestured vaguely to the tree.

"He said I was his get-out-of-jail-free card. That he could use me to get to you and through you influence Jeremy." I bit my lip, trying to find the anger that had kept me motivated enough to see this through to the end. "And if Liam figured that, even if it's completely stupid and ill-conceived, more rogue werewolves looking to influence The Pack could come to the same conclusion."

Derek nodded, frowning at the possibility.

"So I thought that if I made myself not a victim then they wouldn't use me as one." I winced, the cloying scent of blood snaking its way in between my nose and Derek. "I-I tried to just… wanted to pin him, to trap him with my bears but… He wouldn't stop struggling and the more he struggled the more muscles he r-ripped and-" I cut off when Derek pressed his thumb against my mouth, stopping my jittery babbling.

"What do you want to do now?" He asked, getting my brain back on track.

"I… have to… finish." I murmured, body freezing in horror at the very suggestion. "And I have to have proof that I'm willing to go that extra step, to be not only ruthless but cruel to people who try to use me or you to hurt The Pack."

"That's what you want your camera bag for?"

"My video camera and my digital SLR camera are in there… I need both. I need this to be bad enough that no one will risk the same fate."

"And so you never have to do this again."

"That too. God I hope I never have to do this again." I let my forehead fall back against Derek, taking a final deep breath before stepping back, feeling the chill of the night the instant I lost contact with his body. "You… you may not want to see-"

"Don't be an idiot." Derek snapped with a cold tone. "If you think I'm going to leave you again for a second then you don't know me very well."

I smiled weakly at that. I did know him, I knew he would stick with me and I was conflicted as to how I felt about him being with me now, seeing me do this. On the one hand I didn't want to hide things from Derek, I wanted him to know all the darkness in me because I needed to know that he accepted all of me as I accepted all of him. On the other hand I didn't want him to see what I'd done, how sloppy I was when building my cage, how badly Liam was injured.

I followed mutely behind Derek as he strode into the clearing at the edge of the cliffs, turning at the last moment to look fully at what I'd done to Liam. I watched his face and saw a flicker there, a mixture of micro-emotions; shock, awe, pity, a touch of satisfaction and more than a touch of pride. He looked from Liam to me and I saw in his face how horrible the scene was, but also how impressed he was with me. He struggled, flicking back and forth from pride and understanding to concern and horror.

I steeled myself and turned to look at Liam. He was in considerably worse shape than when I'd left him (albeit forcibly and against my will). There wasn't a limb that didn't have a major muscle torn in it and his blood had completely sprayed and stained the bones of my zombies. So many pieces and shards of bones stuck out of him that he looked like Robert Rodriguez's pin cushion. If he wasn't a werewolf the blood loss alone would have already killed him, not to mention the muscle trauma.

I swallowed hard, tried to talk, and had to swallow again as I felt my stomach give a half-heave. "This n-needs to be quick."

"Yeah. Leaving him alive at this point is the cruelest thing we can do to him." Derek agreed tonelessly.

I turned to see him looking slightly sick and had to look down quickly. What did it mean when you did something so horrible that even your soul mate was disgusted?

I walked back into the forest, getting to clearer air before the coppery tang of blood made me heave again. This was definitely going down as one of the worst nights of my life. I stared blankly into the dark, trying to gather my courage and realized that I wouldn't be able to with my head this scattered. I leaned against a tree and slid into a seated half-lotus position, took a deep breath, and tried to meditate.

My mind was more than happy to turn off, it was one of the easiest transitions I'd ever made into the weightless phase of the meditation. I was vaguely aware of the vibrant green energy connecting me to the earth, necromantic energy, and pulled it in like a breath. The spidery burn of power spread through my veins, recharging me and leveling my head out.

Still in my half-aware place, I was aware of Derek approaching me, silent as ever. With each step he drew power from the ground he walked on, a darker green than mine, more wild, but twined completely with the core of my strength. With the partial awareness I patched together my surroundings with a combination of actual vision and vision through my mind's eye. In my surreal world Derek was perfectly blended with his wolf-half, feet seamlessly shifted to paws, the only constant being his eyes, which kept their vivid human color but had the broad iris and dark edges of a wolf's. He dropped to one knee in front of me, not touching, letting me come back to myself.

I blinked and focused, letting the colors and auras fade and be replaced with dark shadows. I felt refreshed and more firm in my resolve. My gaze met Derek's. I saw my resolve mirrored there.

"It's self-preservation." I murmured, still dream-fuzzy. I wasn't being dramatic, just hearing Liam talking about other werewolves knowing that hurting Derek hurt Jeremy nearly gave me a panic-attack. "I died to protect you once. Maybe this time I won't have to."

Derek pulled me fiercely to him, kissing me so hard it hurt. It was a kiss that I could have lost myself in, that I wanted to lose myself in. But he broke away before I could.

"I will personally kill a thousand Liam's before I let you kill yourself again." His voice was so deep that he was almost incapable of human speech. The wolf was very close to the surface, seconding that assertion with his growl.

"Karl's coming!" Elena called, catching our attention.

Derek stood, lifting me to my feet with him. "Time to work." His voice was more human, but barely.

"We only have one shot at this. I never want to do it again so let's make it count." I murmured.

He nodded and we stepped back towards the cliff, waiting for the others.

Elena and Karl were almost as quiet as Derek, so when I heard distinctly human footsteps I frowned and Derek froze, scenting the air.

"Oh no." He murmured.

Elena came into view—now dressed in a plain linen dress—followed closely by a werewolf I didn't know but assumed was Karl. Dark, handsome and sophisticated; yet another annoying case proving that werewolves don't come in ugly. Unlike most though, Karl was dressed in tailored black slacks and a fashionably half-buttoned dress shirt. He'd even taken the time to put on a Rolex and loafers. What was most surprising though was that he was followed even more closely by a familiar figure with a spiked black bob.

"Tori." I groaned. "You've got to be kidding."

"She followed me." Karl said by way of introduction. His words were smooth and polished. "Let's get this over with."

I took my camera bag from him, it was really a small padded cooler with a compartment where I kept my digital camera and another where I kept my video camera. The lenses and additional equipment—small microphones, headphones, extra tapes, a really small portable flood light and battery packs—were in a third compartment that I unzipped first, carefully selecting the low-light attachment for the video camera and a high-resolution lens for the digital single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. The collapsible tripod I kept at all times was strapped to the side. I looped the digital camera strap around my neck, checking the battery and photo card before attaching each lens, looking for dust and placing all the lens caps and covers inside the case. I also loaded the battery and tape into the video camera, feeling a little bit like a mercenary as I screwed in the long heavy astroscope lens that let me shoot in the dark without losing any image stability. This had to be perfect, it wasn't like I could reshoot the scene.

"Why exactly are you here Tori?" I asked pleasantly, eyes narrowed in the dark to read the aperture setting on the camera.

"Because I'm the only other person around who knows how to use your stupidly expensive equipment."

She had a good point. One that I couldn't really argue with and hadn't thought about. I'd be in front of the lens and unable to operate the video camera once we started, if anything went wrong or if I needed an angle adjusted or a zoom shot I _would_ need someone who knew how to use it. But when I looked up to tell her so I saw her openly eyeing Karl and figured out her ulterior motives.

"You do realize that you are going to be filming me killing someone right? Can I trust you to have a steady hand? Because I'm sure Elena would have no problem-"

"Better me than Kit or Simon, who were supposed to follow us up here." She jangled a set of keys that I recognized. "And you guys totally owe me."

Another good point. I definitely did not want Kit OR Simon to see this EVER, an opinion that I was a hundred percent sure Derek seconded whole-heartedly.

"Thanks. Are you sure you can handle this?" I asked again.

"Just set up the tripod and I can take it from there." She rolled her eyes.

I wasn't so sure, Tori had her tough-girl act down pat, but this was serious, and this could potentially be a seriously traumatic experience for her.

Derek's hand on my shoulder got my attention. "It's her choice Chloe. And since she's one of the people who will be benefiting from this, if she wants to help, let her."

"How am I benefiting exactly?" Tori pulled out my video camera and started setting it up, plugging the headphones in and checking the audio input and I swallowed the maternal protective instinct for my baby.

"They're doing this to protect each other and their family." Elena supplied. "If they don't act then all of you are still at danger of attack."

"Oookay." Tori handed the video camera up to Derek. "Hold this." I thought she had decided that she couldn't handle before I saw her unstrapping the tripod.

I stood, steeling myself and getting into character. "Tori you can't talk at all until we're done, and just because he's dead does not necessarily mean we're done, we will tell you. You cannot scream, jump or drop the camera for any reason. If you even look like you can't handle it then Elena can take over." I glanced at Elena and she nodded.

"Whatever, let's go." She followed me as I stepped through the trees. "What is that sm-" She cut herself off when she turned around and saw Liam. Even in the dark I could tell she'd gone pale.

"Can you handle this Tori?" I asked softly.

She shook off the shock, gave me a hard look and nodded once. While she set up the tripod stand and camera I took still shots with the digital SLR camera, manually focusing each one to bring the details into sharp relief. A close-up of a torn muscle, a blood-dripping bear jaw, a spidery claw buried in living flesh and bone. I also took plenty of pictures of the whole scene, making sure that there would be a wide variety of angles.

"Okay I'm done." I said after a few dozen pictures and retrieved my camera bag, laying all the equipment out within easy reach. "Ready?"

"Mic or no mic?" Tori asked, I hesitated, then shook my head, I'd have to be mobile and talk in the beginning and end of the tape. Derek stepped behind me so the camera shot would show me at the far right in the foreground, Liam in the middle set behind me and Derek in the back left, arms crossed, face impassive.

I gave the set-up a slow once-over and nodded in approval. "Let's only do this once shall we? Remember, one continuous take, don't make a sound until I tell you it's okay."

Tori let out an exasperated snort like I was wasting her valuable time and I sighed. "Roll it."

She hit record, the red light came on. Show time.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys, I just wanted to give you all a heads up, this chapter is pretty graphic and gory. It's probably not much worse than the scene with the demonic spirits possessing the guard in The Reckoning but it is pretty gnarly. **

Next chapter soon!

Az.

* * *

"Hi there." Chloe said in that awful flat voice that she used before with Liam. "Anyone watching this knows who I am and knows who my mate is."

Tori's eyebrows shot up at this statement but she kept her mouth shut. I was dubious to say the least about Tori being here for this. While I understood the need for someone who could work Chloe's equipment, I didn't like anyone else seeing this.

"There seems to be some sort of misinformation making its way down the rumor mill about using either of us to hurt or weaken The Pack. Liam here has kindly volunteered to demonstrate why that's not going to happen. Aren't you Liam?" She stepped back and let Tori swing the camera around and focus on Liam who was in a near comatose state but his breathing, gurgling with the blood that filled his lungs, was proof enough that he was close to death. "As you may now know, I am a necromancer. This means that I don't have to be careful, I can accidentally or intentionally kill him and bring him back into his corpse, which would then be under my command. This is what will happen to anyone who tries to hurt me or my family."

She turned and ducked off camera to retrieve what looked like a big flashlight. The moonlight was bright enough to light the tree but Chloe set up the light, angling it down so it would faintly illuminate Liam from underneath. She stepped back, took a deep breath, and kneeled.

I felt the steady beat of her power as she called the bears back to what remained of their bodies. She raised her arms, and all of the bears started moving. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise and her mouth formed a silent curse when she looked at her arm to see one of her bracelets missing. I froze, she didn't have nearly the control without the channeling power of the necromantic runes which meant this could get very messy. She composed herself in the blink of an eye and held her hand out, ordering her skeletons to be still, then miming the motions for her topmost bear, jerking one hand backwards with the bear as it disengaged it's claws from the tree. She stood and jerked her other arm back and again the bear imitated her motions.

It was eerie but I understood what she was doing. With the skeleton copying every move exactly as she made it there could be no doubt that she was controlling it. She had that first bear come stand next to her, awaiting further orders. The next was the first of the bears that was actually piercing Liam's flesh, when Chloe motioned for it to rip free, it did, and with it came a spray of dark blood that spattered Chloe's face and arms. She didn't blink.

I felt a surge of pride, what we were doing was awful and wrong but that we HAD to do it was undeniable. That Chloe could recognize that and have the courage to do what was necessary made me not only proud of her, but proud to be with her.

She had to work slowly with the next bear, it had many splintered bones and was so slick with blood that Chloe had to have it dig its claws into the tree just to get enough traction to pull its ribs out of Liam's shoulders and upper chest, one joint at a time. Liam's body was drooping, he was close to death, I could smell it on him like black oil, oozing slowly over the smell of blood, dominating and poisoning the clearing.

When Chloe ordered the two bears pinning his ankles with their jaws to disengage Liam's eyes shot open wide, bugging out as the last gush of blood with his severed Achilles tendons took his life with it. His gaze fixed on nothing, eyes as alive as the skeletons around him.

"He's dead." She said quietly. "I can see his ghost."

I checked for showman's sake, leaning over his chest to listen for a heartbeat or breathing. There wasn't any. Just to remove any doubt for whoever may end up watching this video I reached forward and crushed Liam's windpipe. It was a strange sensation, I still felt the lead weight in my gut as I did it but also felt very little guilt and no sympathy. All I had to do if I started wavering in my conviction was glance at Chloe's dress and think of Liam's history of violence towards women.

After the take-down of the Edison compound Elena had given me a copy of the mutt dossiers that she compiled for Jeremy. Just so I would know who I was dealing with if I ran into any of them. Liam was a real piece of work. He'd said he liked younger girls but I hadn't told Chloe just how much he _liked_ them.

"But I don't think that they really got the point, do you?" She asked me, bringing my focus back to the moment.

I looked into the camera, letting my face be devoid of emotion, eyes as flat and lifeless as I could manage. I turned to Chloe and shook my head. "No, I don't think they did either."

"Let's try this again shall we?" She gave the camera a pleasant smile and snapped her fingers. A completely unnecessary gesture but the lightness of it contrasted horribly with the screech that tore from Liam's throat. "I didn't say you could die yet."

She peeled away the last skeleton, the biggest. Its ribs stuck clean through Liam's belly, skewering him. First she pulled off the paws and I saw that the pressure of the bear's claw had been all that held one of Liam's arms together. Now it dangled, attached only by the bone, the muscles and ligaments torn through when he had been trying to rip himself free. After that came the main part of the skeleton and as the ribs came out so did pieces of Liam, unidentifiable chunks of gore and one long rope of intestine that stuck to the bones of the bear, unthreading from Liam's stomach. His dead eyes fixed on that and he screamed.

It was an unearthly inhuman scream. It made every hair on my body raise as even when he collapsed to the ground, having nothing left to hold him up, he scrabbled after his stomach, trying vainly to stuff it back into his body.

"Stop. Be silent." Chloe ordered him. "Get on your knees."

Eyes glowing with hatred and rage, Liam jerked up to his knees like invisible strings were pulling him. I circled behind him, giving Chloe a warning look before I reached down and snapped the bone that connected his arm to the rest of his body. His eyes bugged and a scream echoed in his throat and belly but he couldn't open his mouth to release it without Chloe's order being rescinded.

"We can do this all night, snap off pieces of him, and he won't die again because he can't. His body is already dead, but he's still inside of it, aware of what's happening, feeling what's happening." Chloe's voice sounded almost husky, a tone that if you didn't know her sounded almost like this aroused her. But one look at her face told me it was just her throat constricting and she tried to control her gag reflex. "He will do anything I tell him to. I can make him dance on his entrails I can make him eat his own arm and my mate has no problem providing fresh body parts when the arm and intestine are gone." She turned to the camera. "Come near us and I'll do infinitely worse than kill you. I'll keep you alive."

She looked calmly down at Liam. "Bury yourself."

He started digging, not even pausing when he fingernails ripped or his fingers themselves broke. Chloe waved at Tori.

"Cut." She blinked as a flash went off—Elena had Chloe's digital camera and was snapping a few more pictures of Liam digging, his stomach spilling into the dirt even as he dug and me standing next to him, holding his arm. "RELEASE." Chloe said quickly and adamantly as soon as she had the bare minimum to ensure at least one good shot.

Liam slumped to the ground, eyes just dead again. Thank god.

"Jesus." Tori murmured, her eyes wide. "Jesus fucking Christ."

"I warned you." Chloe told her as she looked back at a spot next to the corpse. "… Look, are you just going to stand there and yell at me for eternity or move on to wherever it is that werewolves go?"

Tori looked at her like she was crazy and I focused on a spot in front of Chloe that had that same slight shimmer, like dark heat waves.

"Liam's ghost." I said, for Tori's benefit.

Chloe winced and rubbed her ear. "Enough screaming, seriously. And I'm going to give you something for your trouble." She reached out and brushed her fingertips against the shimmery spot and I sucked in a breath when it grew brighter. "There, a shiny new soul, trauma-free." She blinked and looked around, surprised. "He's gone."

"He moved on." I said, remembering the passage in the Necromancia that talked about spirits and the spirit plane. The soul had to be at peace to move on, somehow Chloe had put Liam's soul to rest and I was absolutely going to drill her about it later on.

"Thanks Tori." Chloe murmured, robotically packed away her cameras and accompanying equipment. "It couldn't have been easy to film."

"Well duh but… why?" Tori gestured at Liam, looking like she was going to be sick.

"To protect themselves, and you, and everyone else that they care about." Elena nodded in approval, her tone impressed and sad. "They had to do something so scary that no one would try to hurt any of you, for fear of this happening to them. Clay did the same thing when he was their age and we have benefitted from their fear for the past three decades."

"All mutts seem to think that Clayton walks around with a chainsaw in his back pocket, they don't challenge him because they don't know what he'll do to them if they lose." Karl's smooth voice hung in the air and Tori perked up like a puppy. "And while he obviously doesn't carry around a chainsaw, our little necromancer here always has her power so the threat is constant."

"We can take Liam's clothes and personal affects to burn while you dispose of the body." I heard myself say calmly, I'd become familiar with The Pack's protocol for body disposal as described in the dossiers Elena gave me—it was the first thing any young Pack werewolf learned and I had some catching up to do. I wanted to get us as free of this event as I could and getting rid of the evidence was the first step of that.

Dimly I realized that I still held Liam's severed arm and tossed it on top of his corpse in disgust. I looked for Chloe, thinking she'd taken her bag back to the car and preparing a whole lecture about wandering off alone but when I turned around I saw her. Standing so rigid that she was shaking, staring blankly at the tree that Liam had been pinned to. Her whole body had tremors strong enough for her teeth to chatter and she turned her head to where I'd been standing moments before, eyes fixed on something I couldn't see.

"Chloe?" I stepped up behind her and put my hands on her shoulders, she jumped with a gasp, eyes focusing on me, then back to where Liam's corpse was, then me again. Her skin was cold to the touch and I started getting really concerned. "What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing." All of the color had drained from her face. "I-I'm just going to hyperventilate and pass out now. Care to join?" She tried to make a joke out of it but I definitely wasn't laughing.

"What do you see?" I asked her quietly, pulling her back against my stomach to share some of my body heat.

"W-We made… Th-There's… There's an imprint now." Her voice was barely audible as her eyes flicked from the tree to where she had been standing during the video. "W-We're both in it."

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. Then I thought about the last imprint she'd seen, in the woods outside the truck stop. She'd seen both the girl and her murderer but only one of them actually died there. Liam's death had been violent enough to scar the space itself, and we were the ones responsible for all that violence, we were the murderers.

"Come on. Let's try to get you warm, I'll get Liam's stuff and we'll head out. You can process all this later, after your body isn't so strained." I steered her in the direction of where I'd heard the car pull in, grabbing her camera bag on the way.

I was surprised to see both dad's van and an unfamiliar car, a basic SUV. I'd thought Tori had just taken the car keys with her but apparently that hadn't been enough, grand theft auto was more her style. I put Chloe's bag in the van and rummaged through, cursing under my breath when I couldn't find any of Chloe's clothes; her main bag must have still been at the campsite. I settled for some of my extra clothes, a gray t-shirt and spare boxers—saving my only extra pair of jeans for myself as there was no way Chloe would fit in them—and ducked back out of the car to see her standing and shivering, eyes blank.

"Hey. Found some dry clothes for you." I had to shake her shoulder gently to get her to focus and was reminded forcibly once again of how I'd found her after she'd seen the imprint at the truck stop.

"Thanks." She whispered and I was really alarmed to see a slight blue tinge to her lips. Hypothermia happened more in cases like this where a body was chilled on a slightly cool night than in extreme temperatures, mostly because in extreme cold people are acutely aware of the risk.

"Chloe I need you to change now okay?" I used my most calm, rational voice.

She looked at me, knowing that the rational voice was a pretty good indication of how worried I really was. Her gaze dropped to the clothes I held to her and she took them with trembling hands. Without a word she went to the back of the van and started to undress. I followed, putting her in between the van and my own body, facing away.

While she changed I swapped my still-wet shorts for the jeans. It was ironic that I didn't really have a problem changing clothes in front of Chloe since I did it all the time, but the idea of her changing in front of me definitely made me blush.

It seemed to take her forever, like her fingers weren't cooperating but finally she put her hand on my arm and I turned. My shirt engulfed her and she'd had to roll down the top of the boxers to get them to fit. I rubbed her upper arms and shoulders, trying to warm her skin and stop her shivering.

"We need to get Liam's stuff." She said, turning towards the ledge. "Then let's get the fuck out of here forever."

My eyebrows shot up in surprise, my dad cursed more often than Chloe did. "I'm not done with you yet." I caught her elbow, steering her back to the car and pulling the small car blanket from under the backseat. I wrapped her in it and frowned at her bare feet, they were a problem, but one we'd have to deal with later.

As we started back to the clearing the others were coming to the car. Karl handed me a bundle of fabric—Liam's clothes and other small possessions.

"You three head back down to the campgrounds, we need to spray the area in ammonia and remove the body." He said, looking weirdly unwerewolf-like in his tailored clothes and expensive watch and shoes. I'd read the dossier on him as well; Karl Marsten, formerly rogue, raised by a mutt and well known amongst the other rogue weres. Completely ruthless and completely lacking a moral code as far as anyone could tell. He was a professional jewel thief but had toned down his lifestyle considerably after he met Hope Adams, a half-demon, and claimed her.

"Text me with the cabin number." Elena told Chloe and she nodded. "We shouldn't be long."

I was already setting Chloe into the passenger seat of the van and climbing into the driver's seat. Tori jumped into the back and I started up the car, turning the headlights off. The drive back was uneventful with the exception of Tori bitching about how we were all going to die because I refused to drive with the headlights on. We didn't need to attract any more attention to the cliffs, the park rangers were most likely already on their way after all Liam's screaming and the camera's flashing.

I pulled into the campsite to find it completely empty except for one camp chair and it's occupant. Dad looked pissed, his jaw was tight and his eyes cool as I told the girls to stay in the car and went to face the music.

"Hi dad."

"Hello son." He responded cooly.

"Where's Simon?"

"Mr. Marsten informed us that he and Elena were here on Pack business and that we should get a cabin for seven on her credit card. Simon is there now putting sheets and blankets on the beds since they weren't expecting guests tonight."

"The office is still open?" I asked, surprised.

"They close at midnight."

"What time is it?" It felt like it was near sunrise, but it had been just after nine when Chloe and I first went into the woods and I had completely lost track of time.

"Twelve thirty." His expression didn't waver. "You want to tell me what's going on Dare?"

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. "What are the chances of this waiting until we all get some rest?"

"Slim to none." He glanced at the car and his eyes softened for a moment.

I followed his gaze to see Chloe staring blankly out the window, still flecked with Liam's blood and illuminated by the car's interior light as Tori rummaged around in the backseat.

"That bad?" He asked quietly.

I rubbed my hand over my mouth now, nodding faintly. "Worse."

His resolve wavered and he sighed. "Okay, we can go to the cabin. But you're not off the hook."

I tried for a smile but only managed a tired nod and walked with him back to the car, climbing into the backseat so he could drive.


	10. Chapter 10

All right dudes and dudettes, last chapter. But **READ THE AUTHORS NOTE AT THE END. **Seriously, I'm taking a poll that will decide the fate of the next story and want **EVERYBODY'S** opinion.

* * *

I barely felt the car stop as we pulled up to a cabin, a nice one with lit windows and warm light spilling out. My awareness kept flickering back and forth between the cabin and the clearing. I lost pieces of time, one second being in the car, the next Derek was standing in front of me with the door open. I had no idea how I got into the car in the first place, or when Kit had started driving, or when Derek opened my door.

_I turned to look at the clearing, feeling fuzzy and disoriented._

_"I did this." I thought._

_As I watched, a figure took shape ahead of me, starting faint and shadowy but filling out as she moved. Before I knew it she was standing right in front of me. A girl, no more than sixteen, with cold eyes and looking powerful and terrifying despite her ripped clothes and blood and dirt smudged face. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and saw a faint figure of a man standing beside the girl, his whole body was blood and dirt-streaked, barely a muscle unmarked as his glittering green eyes fixed emotionlessly somewhere behind me._

_"Derek!" I realized with a shock, feeling the name rise to my lips but not making it past them. And if that was Derek then the girl was…_

Familiar heavily muscled arms lifted me easily and I let my head fall against a chest exactly like the one I'd just seen but Derek was wearing jeans now and his expression held plenty of emotion as he glanced between me and the path to the cabin door. He looked worried, scared even. I wondered faintly what could have him so concerned and wanted to make that worry go away and bring the warm glow back into his eyes.

The cabin door opened and Simon burst out, looking furious, but his anger dropped when his glare landed on me. The same deep concern clouded his features and I wanted to ask what was wrong but couldn't manage it. The best I could do was reach out a hand to him but even that barely made it off my lap before it fell uselessly to my side.

Why did everything hurt? And why did I feel so empty inside?

_The girl terrified me, she looked cold and unconcerned as she moved slowly and precisely, raising her arms and I looked behind me to see Liam, pinned once again to the tree. As a piece of him was freed from the bone pinning it a spurt of blood spattered the girl, heavy and dark and she didn't even blink. The blood ran down her cheek and chest and arm, streaking her and staining her skin…_

I was passing through the doorway from a cozy living room with overstuffed furniture and into a large camp-style bathroom with a double sink and a mirror in the middle, a door leading to a toilet stall off to one side and two shower stalls on the other, each with small private changing areas separated from the main room by a curtain.

Derek set me down on the bench of the first shower's changing area and said something. I struggled to focus and finally caught most of his words.

"Do you need Tori to help you undress?" He had to repeat it before I got the message and shook my head slowly. "I'm going to be right next to you if you need anything." He just spoke slower this time and I managed to bring most of my awareness back to the moment. I nodded as he pointed to the adjoining stall.

Before he left he turned my shower on, making sure the water was warm and then ducking out, closing the curtain behind him. I pulled the big gray shirt off and folded it carefully and methodically, the boxers following onto a neat stack of towels. It took a huge effort to walk to the short distance to the shower and when I got there I had to sit down.

The tile was cool and wet and I pulled my knees to my chest, letting the shower beat down on my back and shoulders and watching the streaks of rust-colored water mingle with the clear water and swirl down the drain.

_Pieces of Liam falling to the ground with little wet noises…_

_The howl of the undead ripped from his throat…_

_Entrails uncoiling like slimy rope…_

_Silencing Liam so he couldn't even scream…_

_Ordering him to bury himself, watching his fingernails rip from his cuticle, dotting the ground with congealing dead blood…_

I turned my face up into the spray, feeling the itching of dried blood flaking and washing away from my cheeks. I could feel the bruised ribs and hip that the skeleton had slammed into and my whole shoulder was already darkening from the impact with the bear and the boulder. A few more inches to the right and I would have hit my head on the rock, killing me instantly.

I hugged my knees, burying my face into them and staring into the water again, now only faintly reddened with blood. I rocked gently back and forth, humming tunelessly in an attempt to drown out my own looping thoughts.

The water above me turned off and I tilted my head slightly to see what did it. Next to me were feet, and jean hems getting dark from the wet tile. I blinked slowly, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. A towel was draped around me and Derek dropped to one knee on the tiles, hair still wet. His eyes dark with something closer to terror than worry.

"Chloe?" He asked hesitantly, lifting my hair off my face so he could see me.

I smiled at him but was so numb I didn't even feel his fingers against my cheek. "I can't feel anything Fido." I whispered.

He dropped to the ground then, tucking me in between his knees and wrapping his arms around me. When I let my head fall back he kissed my forehead.

"Did you feel that?"

I shook my head mechanically. He tilted my face up to his and kissed me, brushing the backs of his fingers against my cheek.

"Did you feel that?" He murmured.

I shook my head again and felt a knot of fear in my stomach, what if I never felt Derek's touch again?

As if reading my mind he pulled me tightly to his chest, pinning the towel in place with his body and encircled arm and kissed me again, this time harder. His hand wrapped around the back of my neck as he pressed me against him and deepened the kiss, brushing my numb mouth with his tongue.

"Did you feel that?" He asked again, his voice huskier and his eyes burning with a combination of concern and something deeper, more primal that _did_ make me feel a fluttering in my stomach where the knot used to be.

I bit my lip, trying to force feeling into it. Tears prickled the back of my eyes and I closed them, shaking my head again.

Without warning his mouth was against my neck, pressed to my pulse, teeth scraping lightly against the sensitive skin there and I gasped. I definitely felt that, but Derek didn't stop there. He dragged his teeth down the curve of my neck almost hard enough to hurt then kissed the base of my throat, pulling me forward with the hand around my neck and pushing my head back with his thumb.

My heart was pounding so hard I knew he heard it and he brushed the back of his fingers over it before pulling back and looking down at me.

"Did you feel that?" His voice had dropped to a near-growl and his eyes were dilated as he kept me pressed to him.

I felt his heart thudding against me, I felt the tingling hyper-aware skin on my neck where his mouth and teeth had been, I felt his roughened hands holding me fiercely and gently as if I was going to fall apart if he let go. I felt his eyes, looking straight through me and slamming emotions into the space inside me that had felt so empty. I felt my body react to these feelings, gasping with the desperate worry, back arching up with the desire to keep touching his skin, heart pounding with so much love I ached.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to me, kissing him and pulling on that emotional strength he offered. I kissed him like he was air and I was suffocating, I kissed him like he was the only real thing in my shifting life. I kissed him like I loved him more than anything else in the world... And I did.

I broke away, the need for oxygen forcing me to come up for air. I drew in deep shuddering breaths and felt the tears I had been forcing back spill over onto my cheeks in big drops. I lay still and let them come, running down my face and onto Derek's chest.

It was shortly thereafter that I realized that Derek was on his back and I was laying on top of him, towel slipping. Before I had time to even blush he had taken another dry towel off of the bench and pulled it over my shoulders, eyes fixed on mine as I tucked the first in around my chest and kept the second like a shawl.

Once decent-ish I scooted off of him, letting the blush color my cheeks. I didn't feel the overpowering lustful urges that I had felt before, this hadn't been about hormones or anything so light, it was Derek reminding me why I did what I did. That there was something I wanted so badly that I would kill to protect it. I felt everything because of that, the bruises everywhere, even on my lips from the several instances of rough kisses throughout the night and I was acutely aware of the friction between Derek's hand and my leg as he wrapped it around my calf.

"Did you feel that?" He asked in that not-completely-human tone with his wolf's smile, trying to hide the concern still hovering behind his eyes.

I smiled and wiped the tears from my face. I still felt the raw horror and disgust for what I'd done but I was able to recognize and process it now. I knew that I didn't have to go through this alone and that chased away the last of my shock.

"Thank you." I whispered, barely able to use my voice after all the strain and power that had passed through it. I leaned over and kissed him again, a short kiss before either of us could get lost.

I got unsteadily to my feet and Derek pushed up on his elbows, keeping his hand on my calf to steady me. I pulled the same shirt I'd been wearing on over the towels before unwrapping them and letting them drop. With the shirt coming to mid-thigh on me it was as modest as the towels and I pulled on the boxers without feeling exposed.

Even so, Derek watched each movement like it was the last thirty seconds of the super bowl, and _that_ brought color to my cheeks. I stepped into the main part of the bathroom, leaving him on the shower floor. I made it about three steps before he was behind me, hand catching mine.

"Are you going to be okay now?" He rumbled quietly, catching my chin and making me meet his gaze.

"No, but I'm getting there. Just… stay with me and I'll be fine." I turned back to look in the mirror over the sinks and do an inventory of the night's injuries.

My shoulder was already purpling nicely and I lifted the shirt up to check my ribs but didn't know the difference between them being bruised, cracked or broken. I was pretty sure they weren't broken but I did want Derek to check. Keeping the shirt up I folded down the top of the boxers to look at the bruise there. It wasn't nearly as dark as my shoulder but it was bigger, stretching in one long continuous bruise along my whole side.

"Could you check to see if my ribs are cracked?" I asked, looking up to meet Derek's eyes in the mirror.

His expression made me jump. He looked livid with his jaw clenched tight, eyebrows lowered and nose crinkled slightly in an almost snarl.

"What's wrong?" I managed and he blinked, shaking his head to clear his expression like an etch-a-sketch.

"We went too easy on Liam." He growled, eyes still furious and jaw clenching and unclenching.

My eyebrows shot up. "Sweetheart you broke his arm off. That wasn't enough?"

"Not by a long shot." There was more wolf in his expression than human and I excused his vindictive streak, chalking it up to the wolf's protective instincts.

"I… I ordered him to bury himself." I swallowed hard. "I think he's plenty punished." A new wave of guilt and horror washed over me and Derek's expression finally softened.

"Chloe." He said firmly, putting both hands on my shoulders and making me meet his gaze. "Liam wasn't just in deep with The Pack for The Edison Group. He'd been on their list for a while, he was a really really bad guy."

"But that doesn't give me the right to play judge, jury and executioner." I shook my head. "No one deserves that."

"_Chloe._ He… he had a… he liked to… hunt girls. Young girls." Derek's eyes went distant and sad for the victims and I knew from that look that Liam hadn't killed them quickly. His eyes hardened again as he glared down at me. "Trust me, compared with what he's done… he got off lightly. Really lightly."

It did help to know that he had been such a bad man but I still couldn't erase the fact that I had taken a life. I would always feel the guilt for killing him and I had to either learn and grow from the experience or let it weigh me down and prove that I was the victim that Liam had thought I was.

I pushed Derek's hands off my shoulders and straightened. "We should go talk to the others."

He sighed but didn't answer, just crouched in front of me and lifted the hem of my shirt to look at my ribs. "Does it hurt to breathe?"

"A little, like an ache."

He touched my ribs with his fingertips and despite his care I sucked in a breath when he put pressure on my side.

"Ow."

"What kind of pain is it?" He asked with a frown but didn't look overly worried, a good sign.

"Dull, uh… I guess kind of like a sprained ankle… but on my ribs." I glared at him when he raised an eyebrow at me.

"I'd say there's over a ninety percent chance that they're just bruised." He gave me a small smile that turned a little wicked with a slightly crooked curve to his lips and I got nervous. He kept his eyes on mine but leaned forward and pressed his lips to my ribs and kissed there, then the bruised side of my stomach and finally he hooked a finger in the waistband of the boxers and tugged just enough to expose the bruise on my hip again. That last kiss on my hip lingered and my breath hitched.

"N-None of that n-now." I tripped over the words as his green eyes glittered up at me, hands sliding around my calves.

A knock on the door made us jump and I stepped back quickly while Derek was distracted. He rose to his feet as I reached for the handle. Elena was standing in the hall, arms crossed and fingers tapping her bicep.

"Indeed none of "that" now." She said it quietly so only we heard—and of course Karl who smothered a laugh across the room—and I blushed scarlet. Her mouth twisted in a wry smile and she ruffled my wet hair. "How you doing munchkin?"

The blush disappeared and I glared at her. "Just because you werewolves are freakishly tall does NOT make me munchkin material."

She laughed. "Good to see your spunk back. Now go update your dad before he fidgets himself to death."

The last was directed at Derek and we both looked over to see Kit and Simon on the couch talking, Kit with his knee bouncing impatiently and Simon moving his foot in a similar jittery gesture. Tori sat in an armchair facing Karl who was leaning comfortably against the fireplace mantel. There was a loveseat and one last armchair free and I let Derek get situated on the love seat before burrowing next to him.

Elena folded her long limbs into the arm chair. "Okay kids, who wants to start?"

Derek glanced down at me and I sighed. "Fine." I sat up a little straighter, relinquishing my burrowed spot for a slightly more sophisticated cuddle. "Liam is the werewolf who first approached me and Derek on our way to Andrew's house. He and his partner Ramon were working as mercenaries for the Edison Group though we didn't know that at the time. I stabbed him in the leg, crippling him enough for us to escape."

Derek squeezed the arm around my shoulders, tucking me into the curve of his body.

"Woah." Simon gawked. "You _stabbed_ him?"

I nodded. "And apparently he held a bit of grudge." This got a soft snort of a laugh from Derek. "Later on, after the security team attacked Stonehaven, I was kidnapped by Liam and his pals with more Edison cronies. Derek may have broken Liam's face…"

"A bit?" Simon supplied when I hesitated, eyebrow raised.

"Ah…" I looked up at Derek and he shrugged. "A lot. Werewolves heal quickly and when he took me this time he still looked like about half the bones in his face were broken."

Karl let out a low whistle and looked at Derek. "Remind me not to kidnap your girl."

"Don't kidnap my girl." Derek rumbled back, giving Karl a blank assessing look.

I elbowed him in the stomach. "Let's lose the testosterone shall we?" I glowered at him when he shrugged, eyes still shuttered. "_Anyway_. So because of kidnapping me when The Pack had already given protection to both me and Derek and working for a Cabal on top of that, Liam was supposed to be executed. That's why Elena and Karl are here. He kidnapped me—again—to try to barter with them, my safety for his life. The fact that a complete moron like Liam came up with this plan made me think that as long as any of us were seen as a bargaining chips we'd be used as one." I lowered my eyes, keeping them on my lap and tried to find the courage to finish.

"So she did something awful enough that it wouldn't be worth it to try to attack _any_ of you." Elena finished for me.

"Liam's dead." I mumbled without looking up.

"And your pack is safe." Elena countered softly.

There was movement from across the room, then footsteps approaching me. I looked up hesitantly to see Kit standing in front of the loveseat. Derek took his arm off of my shoulders and Kit knelt, pulling me into a hug.

"Thank you." He said, giving me a gentle squeeze then rocking back on his heels.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Tori. "You did the right thing."

I felt my mouth fall open in surprise and got a wry smile from her. I'd never seen Tori so sincere or serious.

Simon stayed seated, giving me a dark look, body absolutely still.

"Simon?" Kit stood and looked back at the couch.

"That was stupid." Simon managed to spit out through his teeth. "So fucking stupid."

He glared at me some more while everyone stared at him except for Derek was smiling slightly at his brother.

"You two always think you have to do everything on your own, protecting us, keeping us safe. Have you ever considered that _we_ want to protect _you_ just as much?" Simon's fists clenched in the material of his sweatpants and he had to work to get his anger under control enough to speak again. "As fucked up and weird as we all are, we're a family. If you two can't see that then what the hell are you trying to protect?"

I stood, moving to stand in front of Simon and he stood too, glowering down at me. He wasn't as tall as Derek but he still had close to a foot on me. He opened his mouth to yell some more and I wrapped my arms around his waist, going up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

"I'm sorry we didn't give you a chance to help us." I murmured as his hands clenched to fists at his sides. "And I love you too."

Finally his shoulders relaxed with a shudder and he wrapped me up in a bear hug, burying his face in my shoulder. He took a deep breath then stood up straight again, trying to find his glower.

"If you ever EVER come home looking like you did thirty minutes ago… I'll… I'll get BOTH of you micro chipped!" He shot this at Derek who hadn't moved from the loveseat.

I went back to sit with him and nervously looked at his face, not sure how he would react to my interaction with his brother. Warm green eyes met mine and he smiled, kissing me lightly on the mouth.

"My family." He murmured, so quietly only I heard him.

"_Our_ pack." I corrected him with a smile.

THE END

* * *

All righty, sorry to spring the last chapter on you like this but this is ONE in a series and I need to get started on the next. If you haven't figured it out, I'm writing a back-story for the pictures mentioned in the WBT epilogue. Next story is about their high school graduation and I want you to **VOTE IN THE REVIEWS** for who's POV you want it to be written from, either solo or alternating with one other character.

Options are:

Chloe

Derek

Simon

Tori

Kit

Jeremy

List one or two characters in your review, the faster you guys review, the faster I can get started. And I do want **EVERYONE TO VOTE**, not just my regulars. Honestly you can post a one word review such as "Kit" and that's fine.

Sam, DofD, Boat Gal, Lilly 87 and D&C4ever- Thank you so much for continuing to make me smile with your flattery and quirky comments, hope to see you when I post Snapshots 2!

Horses and Vampires, Suzi, Winkadink, Suria, Seiya, Silver Bird, Anastasia, Riley and Black Heart- Being some of my more opinionated reviewers I really look forward to hearing what you want in Snapshots 2, as always, thank you!

Look for an update soon!

Love,

Azure.


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